Extreme 2001 research reaches students around the world

On Nov. 1, an international research team led by UD marine biologist Craig Cary stepped ashore in Mexico after a 17-day expedition called Extreme 2001: A Deep-Sea Odyssey. The expedition took the scientists, and more than 13,000 who followed their adventures via the Internet, to the depths of the Pacific Ocean to study hydrothermal vents and the unusual creatures that inhabit them.

The ocean's greatest depths once were believed to be devoid of life. In the past 25 years, however, intrepid explorers, diving to the seafloor in high-tech submersibles, have disproved that notion. They have discovered that a number of unusual organisms inhabit some areas of the deep sea, thriving at underwater geysers called hydrothermal vents.

More than 1 mile beneath the ocean's surface live clams the size of dinner plates, towering tubeworms, ghost-white crabs and the microscopic bacteria that hold together this strange web of life.

Extreme 2001 was notable, not only for both the vast number of students who were provided a firsthand look at science in action, but for the fact that one of the participating research groups, Amersham Biosciences, conducted the first-ever DNA sequencing experiments to be carried out while at sea.

School children from around the world took a voyage deep into the Pacific Ocean with UD scientists through an interactive web site and communication between students and crew via e-mail and conference calls.

The scientific team set sail Oct. 15 aboard the 274-foot research vessel Atlantis from Puntarenas, Costa Rica.

After a four-day trip to the Pacific Ocean dive site along the Mid-Ocean Ridge, the scientists climbed aboard the submersible Alvin and plummeted to one of the most demanding environments on Earth--super-hot hydrothermal vents nearly two miles deep on the ocean floor.

Under Cary's direction, researchers studied the vents and the organisms that inhabit them, including the Pompeii worm, which is known as the world's "hottest" animal because it is able to withstand temperatures up to 176 degrees Fahrenheit.

The 13,000 students were at 180-plus schools, representing 32 states, Australia, Canada, Guam, New Zealand and Puerto Rico.

"This project is about getting kids excited about science," Cary said. "We want to introduce them to one of the most fascinating habitats on the planet and engage them in the process of scientific research and discovery."

Judging by the enthusiastic response of teachers and students alike, the project succeeded.

Students and the public were able to log onto the expedition web site at [www.ocean.udel.edu/extreme2001] to see the scientists' latest discoveries via video clips, photos, interviews and journals that were relayed daily back to shore.

Students also had opportunities to interact electronically with members of the research team, and selected schools participated in live conference calls with the scientists as they worked in Alvin on the seafloor.

The e-mail questions and answers can be found on the web site and are both informative and entertaining. Some students wanted to know if the scientists had encountered sharks or other man-eaters in the deep, some wanted to know if the crew had ever eaten creatures found near the vents and others wanted to know how they could join a future expedition.

Extreme 2001 provided students an excellent opportunity to learn about hydrothermal vents, which continuously spew hot, mineral-rich water and help support a diverse community of exotic marine organisms.

Vent dwellers have adapted to some of the planet's most demanding conditions--high temperature, high pressure and total darkness--and are the only complex ecosystem known to live on energy from chemicals rather than energy from the sun.

The vents, some of which are topped by soaring chimneys, are believed to play an important role in the ocean's temperature, chemistry and circulation patterns.

Scientists also believe that if there is life on other planets, it might be similar to vent bacteria.

"Every time we dive to the vents, we find something new," Cary said. "By studying 'extremophiles' like the Pompeii worm, we can better understand this amazing ecosystem and the human benefits it may yield."

Among its exploits, the research submarine Alvin is famous for discovering the wreck of the Titanic. The sub is owned by the U.S. Navy and operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

During the undersea expedition, UD scientists and Amersham Biosciences succeeded in conducting the first-ever DNA sequencing experiments to be carried out while at sea. Using the research vessel Atlantis and submersible Alvin, the team carried out a pioneering environmental genomic study of the strange life that inhabits the hydrothermal vents on the floor of the Pacific Ocean.

By the end of the 17-day research cruise, the scientists estimated that they sequenced just under 2 million base pairs of DNA from different microbes and organisms that live in and around the vents. The amount of DNA sequenced during the trip will be equivalent to the size of a small bacterial genome, which typically ranges from 2 million to 5 million base pairs. The microbes, tubeworms and other vent dwellers are of critical interest to industry because these organisms may yield a range of new products and applications, from new pharmaceuticals to heat-stable, pressure-resistant enzymes for food processing, hazardous waste cleanup and
other fields.

Under the direction of Cary, the team conducted daily dives aboard the Alvin coupled with round-the-clock laboratory analysis on the Atlantis. Two scientists from Amersham Biosciences' Production Sequencing Group in Sunnyvale, Calif., were on board using the company's MegaBACE™ 1000 DNA Analysis System and TempliPhi™ DNA Sequencing Template Amplification Kit. These technologies played a key role in realizing the ability to carry out the project in i ts natural environment, as soon as samples were collected by the sub and brought aboard ship.

According to Robert A. Feldman, production sequencing and collaborations manager at Amersham Biosciences, "This work was not possible even a year ago. It really is due to MegaBACE and the use of TempliPhi that we are able to accomplish this. The technology that we are successfully bringing to these deep-sea systems is creating the new field of marine genomics. These efforts will be seen as groundbreaking for future studies on environmental, ecological and evolutionary biology."

Amersham Biosciences is a world leader in developing and providing integrated systems and solutions for disease research, drug development and manufacturing.

Extreme 2001: A Deep-Sea Odyssey was sponsored by the University of Delaware College of Marine Studies and the Sea Grant College Program, with financial support from the National Science Foundation.