The Genome Inspection and Finishing Team is a group of SEA-PHAGES faculty members who assist in the assembly, finishing, and quality control of sequenced phage genomes.

Sequencing genomes consists of two broad stages. First, libraries are created and random reads are generated using a sequencer. Second, those reads must be assembled into a complete genome, checked for weak areas and physical ends, and exported in a final format. This second stage is known as Assembly and Finishing.

In the first year of the SEA-PHAGES program, 13 genomes were sequenced, and the assembly and finishing work was manageable for the experts. But by 2013-14, the ease and cost of generating sequencing reads had improved so that more than 140 genomes were sequenced that year, and the burden of assembling and finishing all those genomes grew.

The GIFT was conceived as a means to share the assembly and finishing work across a larger set of SEA-PHAGES members by helping them to develop the expertise needed to perform these tasks on their own. An inaugural GIFT Workshop was held at HHMI in December 2014 to train the first 8 GIFT Scholars.

The GIFT Scholars are led and organized by Dan Russell. If you're interested in joining, email Dan at dar78@pitt.edu.