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BiologyAdvancedProject

Vibe genomics: sequence your own whole genome at home

Go from cheek swab to ~15x whole-genome coverage on a hobbyist nanopore sequencer — with an LLM walking you through library prep, the run, and QC.

300 minClaude, Oxford Nanopore MinION, Guppy / Dorado basecaller, minimap2, bcftools10xCareer Team

Choose your training style

Pick the format that matches the level of support you want.

Self-pacedAvailable

Self-paced

Start immediately and work through the training on your own schedule.

Free
Human trainerComing soon

Human trainer

Join a guided cohort or workshop format when live delivery is available.

$99

Guided by an instructor

AI trainerComing soon

AI trainer

Practice with an AI-guided trainer experience tailored to the course topic.

$9

Personalized guidance

Overview

Consumer DNA tests like 23andMe give you a few hundred thousand SNPs from a fixed chip. A hobbyist nanopore sequencer gives you your entire genome, at whatever depth you are willing to pay for. This course covers the full "vibe genomics" loop: sampling, library prep, running a sequencer, and getting enough coverage that you can validate your results against your existing 23andMe raw data.

Your DNA never has to leave your home.

Who it's for

  • Self-experimenters curious about their own genome beyond consumer tests
  • Developers who want a hands-on project that spans wet lab and data
  • Clinicians and researchers exploring low-cost, decentralized sequencing
  • Anyone who has read about nanopore sequencing and wants to try it

What you'll build

  • A full library prep workflow for a nanopore flow cell, run in your home lab
  • A sequencing run that targets 10-20x genome coverage
  • A QC report comparing your reads against your 23andMe raw SNP file

Prerequisites

  • Completed the home wet lab course or have equivalent bench experience
  • A nanopore sequencer and at least one flow cell
  • A laptop or small server capable of basecalling and alignment
  • Your 23andMe raw data file for validation

Tools and setup

  1. Decide your target coverage and budget for flow cells and reagents
  2. Prepare a clean, dedicated bench area for library prep
  3. Use an LLM to pre-walk the protocol, catch misreads, and simulate failure modes

Modules

Module 1: Sample, extract, and QC your DNA

You will collect a cheek or saliva sample, extract high-molecular-weight DNA, and measure concentration and purity before committing to a flow cell.

Module 2: Library prep and the sequencing run

You will prepare a sequencing library, load a flow cell, and monitor the run in real time, letting the LLM help diagnose pore occupancy, read length, and throughput issues.

Module 3: Validate against your 23andMe SNPs

You will align your reads to a reference genome, call variants, and check concordance against the 600k SNPs in your 23andMe raw data as a sanity check.

Deliverable

A set of BAM and VCF files for your own genome at roughly 10-20x coverage, plus a concordance report against your 23andMe SNPs.

Common mistakes

  • Starting library prep before extraction QC confirms the DNA is actually sequenceable
  • Overloading the flow cell or skipping nuclease flushes and killing throughput
  • Treating called variants as clinical results instead of a personal research artifact

Next steps

Feed the VCF into the bioinformatics course to explore pharmacogenomics, ancestry, and trait associations — or share reads back to open human reference projects.

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