The Biomedical Innovations classes at UC High are piloting a whole genome sequencing lab series with Illumina using their brand new iSeq sequencer. The classes determined which salad ingredient from ready-made salads was contaminated with Shiga toxin producing E.coli O157 (STEC) the main contaminant in many of the recent food borne illness outbreaks such as contaminated spinach and romaine lettuce. The surface of each salad ingredient was swabbed to gather DNA, DNA libraries were prepared for analysis in the sequencer, and the samples were sequenced in order to determine the sample contaminated with STEC. Jessica Bosch, UC’s instructor worked with Illumina over the summer to design the lab series for eventual roll-out to high schools.
