Briony Jackson
Head of Science Education and Public Engagement
bjackson [at] ebi.ac.uk
EditOur Animal DNA
Online bioinformatics activity for schools: Use online bioinformatics tools to find and compare brand new genome sequences from species sequenced as part of the Darwin Tree of Life research project.
Age 16-19 | KS5 or S5/6
Genomics aims to understand the biology of species by studying the DNA instructions for life. One way we can do this is to compare genes between species to determine which ones have similar function. But complete DNA codes, known as genomes, are massive and complicated. To compare these genomes, scientists need computational tools – this area of science is called bioinformatics.
In this activity Dr Emily Perry will lead you through the computational tools scientists use to compare genomes. You’ll use Ensembl, a freely available online resource which enables scientists to look at genes and explore links between species, to find a human gene, learn about its function and export its sequence.
You’ll then use Clustal Omega, another online tool, to search for this sequence in other organisms and compare the similarities and differences. You’ll get to use real-life tools used by scientists and experience some of the activities that are part of research. Once you know how to use these tools you can compare sequences across hundreds of species’ genomes, some of which might not have been studied before!
Downloadable resources
- Glossary of terms
- Practical 1 instructions
- Practical 2 instructions
- Practical 2 sample files
- Practical answers
More about the DToL project
The Darwin Tree of Life project aims to understand how the diversity of life on Earth evolved, explore the biology of organisms and ecosystems, aid conservation efforts, and provide new tools for medicine and biotechnology. It is one of several initiatives across the globe working towards the ultimate goal of sequencing all complex life on Earth, in a venture known as the Earth BioGenome Project. This project is a collaboration between the Earlham Institute, EMBL-EBI, Marine Biological Association, Natural History Museum, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Royal Botanic Garden Kew, and the Wellcome Sanger Institute, along with teams at the Universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh and Oxford.