Personal microbiomes and next-generation sequencing for laboratory-based education

Sequencing and bioinformatics technologies have advanced rapidly in recent years, driven largely by developments in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology. Given the increasing importance of these advances, there is a growing need to incorporate concepts and practices relating to NGS into undergraduate and high school science curricula. We believe that direct access to sequencing and bioinformatics will improve the ability of students to understand the information obtained through these increasingly ubiquitous research tools. In this commentary, we discuss approaches and challenges for bringing NGS into the classroom based on our experiences in developing and running a microbiome project in high school and undergraduate courses. We describe strategies for maximizing student engagement through establishing personal relevance and utilizing an inquiry-based structure. Additionally, we address the practical issues of incorporating cutting edge technologies into an established curriculum. Looking forward, we anticipate that NGS educational experiments will become more commonplace as sequencing costs continue to decrease and the workflow becomes more user friendly.