"Voyage of the Beagle 2" -The Search for Microbial DNA
Marine microbes are among the most abundant life form on the planet and among the most mysterious. Results from the first phase of a global expedition are expected to provide a glimpse into this long-hidden world are being reported by Craig Venter, the maverick biologist who helped crack the human genome seven years ago, who is leading the Sorcerer expedition, which began in the Saragosso Sea.
Venter, who likes to compare his project to Charles Darwin's 19th-century voyage on the Beagle (image left), says he and other scientists have used DNA-analysis techniques to discover millions of new genes and thousands of new proteins in ocean microbes -microscopic life forms are mainly bacteria and organisms known as archaea.
The rich and unexpected variety of microbial DNA he's found overturns earlier notions that the oceans are a homogenous soup of bacteria and other microscopic life. This diverse supply of microbial DNA from the oceans could be a rich lode for scientists, especially to cure cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, allowing researchers to compare the DNA of oceanic bacteria to the genetic code of microorganisms that cause human disease.
The journey is modeled on one of the first oceanographic expeditions, by the British sailing ship Challenger in the 1870s, which sought to determine whether there was life in the ocean depths; its discoveries filled 50 volumes, each as thick as a family Bible.
The microbial DNA is the key to the next phase of biology: the synthetic phase. Venter believes the findings could also pave the way to alternative energy. By adding genes from sea organisms, he speculates, microbes created in the lab may be engineered to release hydrogen, an alternative fuel. Posted by Casey Kazan.
Link
Comments