Groundbreaking Gene Scientist Is Taking His Craft to the Oceans MarineBio Marine Life Directory

Groundbreaking Gene Scientist Is Taking His Craft to the Oceans

URL:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=...

March 5, 2004 - Dr. J. Craig Venter defied skeptical biologists by decoding the human genome in a scant three years. Now he has set his sights on an even grander goal cataloging all the microbial life in the world.

Dr. Venter said yesterday that he and colleagues had discovered at least 1,800 new microbial species and more than 1.2 million genes by sequencing the DNA from a sample of seawater from the Sargasso Sea, off Bermuda. The findings revealed a diversity of life in the ocean that has not been seen until now.

"It's almost hyperbole," said David M. Karl, a professor of oceanography at the University of Hawaii who was not involved in the work. "How can you imagine one sample having a million new genes and proteins that we don't know anything about?"

Visit | Review | Rate (0) | 2008/07/03 | 164 visits

Reviews

There are currently no reviews
Be the first?