Reading a DNA Sequencing Membrane

Download the files you will need for this exercise:

DNA sequencing membranes:
Membrane 1
Membrane 2
Membrane 3
Membrane 4
Membrane 5

Membrane files are in JPG format. You can either use a viewer such as Microsoft Photo Editor or Photoshop to view the images, or you can view and print them from the web browser window. To save a membrane image, right click the image and select "Save picture as..."

Download Sequencher, the DNA assembly program.

Sequencher is an excellent program for assembling small fragments of sequenced DNA into a larger contiguous sequence, or 'contig.' Students can use Sequencher to import High School Project data files, automatically assemble them and view the results quickly and easily. Students may also import and analyze their own data obtained from reading the student membranes they have downloaded.

Mac version of Sequencher
If you have installed Stuffit (a common file compression/extraction tool) on your Macintosh, the Sequencher.hqx file should automatically be extracted and an icon called Sequencher Demo Installer should appear on the desktop.

If your Mac does not automatically uncompress the file, you may have to manually open it using Stuffit. Ask your system administrator for assistance if necessary.

If your Mac does not have Stuffit, you may download it here before continuing.

PC version of Sequencher
Double click the Setup.exe icon & follow the onscreen instructions to install.

Student Sequencing Data Files:

High School Student Data from 1996 & 1997 is available for students to download and assemble into contigs using Sequencher.

Click here to download the complete set of student data files from our last project, DFNA1. This project was completed in 1998 and the results have been submitted to Genbank, the public sequence database.

This folder contains only student data. Another folder containing both the cDNA from the region of interest (pc2_cDNA) and the vector sequence (pjY02_vector) is also available for download by clicking here.

Try doing an assembly using only student data, then compare to a second assembly done with the vector and cDNA files to see how these important pieces change the way the fragments fit together.

Stuffit should automatically uncompress the data file into a separate folder, which in turn contains individual student data files. Try performing an assembly of this data. Because this is a new project, the assembly will be incomplete. New data will be added every few weeks as students generate new sequences.