Researchers and scientists from San Diego State University (SDSU) and other institutions from all over the world have released a new study detailing how they sequenced DNA at sea.
The scientists were able to sequence 26 bacterial genomes during a three-day expedition in 2013 to the Line Islands, which is located south of Hawaii near the equator, according to a SDSU press release.
They were also able to sequence two metagenomes, where take into account all the DNA present in a specific sample, according to the article published this week in the journal Peerj.
SDSU biologists and computer scientists have been traveling to the Line Islands for the last decade, collecting and analyzing the coral habitat to try learning more about what organisms live there, what effects their presence has on the reef's ecosystem, and how they compete for resources.
SDSU computer scientist Rob Edwards was always bothered that they had to wait until they were back home before analyzing their data to develop new hypotheses.
"If only we had had that data out in the field, we could have asked those questions there and then," Edwards said, according to the release. "People are a little bit hesitant to take a half-million-dollar piece of equipment into the middle of the Pacific if you're not sure it's going to be coming back."
The group was allowed to take San Diego-based Life Technologies' DNA sequencer for their expedition. The sequencer had to be placed in a laundry room on the lowest level of the MY Hanse Explorer, because that's where the deck rolled the least, according to the study.
It took doctoral student Yan Wei Lim five hours to calibrate the sequencer because of the seagoing conditions. In a lab, the process usually takes 15 minutes.
The group already has plans to go back with a DNA sequencer again, and will be better prepared this time, according to Edwards.
SDSU biologist Forest Rohwer and postdoctoral scholar Andreas Haas also helped with the expedition.
See Now: OnePlus 6: How Different Will It Be From OnePlus 5?
