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I am not experienced with metagenomics/metatranscriptomics/soil microbiology/Nanopore technology, so please forgive if this post is misguided 
I plan to conduct field work in a (slightly) remote area. I will live there (at a basic research facility) for 2 weeks. I hope to conduct a simple proof-of-concept study there that involves me:
1) collecting soil samples,
2) using the Basic MinION Starter Pack to study the soil composition directly at the research facility,
3) checking the data for methane-producing organisms or activities.
I have two questions related to this goal.
1) To perform step (2) above, what is a *complete list* of resources I would need at minimum? The Basic MinION Starter Pack (https://store.nanoporetech.com/configure-minion-basic) comes with 1 MinION, 2 flow cells, and 1 sequencing kit. Is this actually all that is needed besides the soil sample? Or, are there other (especially costly) items needed? For instance, will I need a refrigerator (and at what temperature)? Will I need a centrifuge? Will I need other specialized tools? I am aiming to keep the costs not much more than the $1,000 needed for the Starter Pack and am unsure if that is unrealistic. The research facility has extremely basic tools and I would need to ask in advance for anything!
2) Scientists have found that the soil in this area produced methane after the introduction of growth medium, suggesting that methane was being given off by an organism. I am hoping to investigate that further (in some way) using the MinIon Starter Pack. So, I am interested in looking for, for example, methane-producing genes, metabolites, or organisms. Is it even possible that the Basic MinION Starter Pack could be used to look for such data?
This is really supposed to be a modest learning project that have some basic results in a few weeks at a cost not much more than $1,000. Feasible or fantasy? Thank you for sharing your advice!
I plan to conduct field work in a (slightly) remote area. I will live there (at a basic research facility) for 2 weeks. I hope to conduct a simple proof-of-concept study there that involves me:
1) collecting soil samples,
2) using the Basic MinION Starter Pack to study the soil composition directly at the research facility,
3) checking the data for methane-producing organisms or activities.
I have two questions related to this goal.
1) To perform step (2) above, what is a *complete list* of resources I would need at minimum? The Basic MinION Starter Pack (https://store.nanoporetech.com/configure-minion-basic) comes with 1 MinION, 2 flow cells, and 1 sequencing kit. Is this actually all that is needed besides the soil sample? Or, are there other (especially costly) items needed? For instance, will I need a refrigerator (and at what temperature)? Will I need a centrifuge? Will I need other specialized tools? I am aiming to keep the costs not much more than the $1,000 needed for the Starter Pack and am unsure if that is unrealistic. The research facility has extremely basic tools and I would need to ask in advance for anything!
2) Scientists have found that the soil in this area produced methane after the introduction of growth medium, suggesting that methane was being given off by an organism. I am hoping to investigate that further (in some way) using the MinIon Starter Pack. So, I am interested in looking for, for example, methane-producing genes, metabolites, or organisms. Is it even possible that the Basic MinION Starter Pack could be used to look for such data?
This is really supposed to be a modest learning project that have some basic results in a few weeks at a cost not much more than $1,000. Feasible or fantasy?
Thank you for sharing your advice!
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