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With the submersible's hatch open, pilot Phil Santos runs through his checklist prior to sub launch. Including a pre-dive briefing, the sub can be checked and in the water in 60 minutes.
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No, this isn't the latest delicacy served up in the ship's galley.
In the translucent collection bucket of the JSL, colorful new sponge samples await identification in the lab.
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Chief Scientist Dr. Shirley Pomponi identifies fresh sponge samples under the microscope. The scope allows her to classify the animals by viewing their spicules, structures that look like glass fibers found in distinctive patterns on many sponges. |
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This environmental ethic doesn't end when the submersible surfaces. Harvesting animals to retreive a valuable medicine could potentially decimate entire populations. Research specialist Robin Willoughby, a marine invertebrate cell biologist from Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution (HBOI), looks for ways to alleviate future pressures on the animals by growing compound-producing cells in the lab. The resulting lab-grown cells allow researchers to conduct experiments without having to collect additional specimens from the wild.
I met with Willoughby in her lab on the EDWIN LINK's "01 deck". She was mulling over a microscope problem. "The vibration from the ship's engines is causing a lot of shaking, but we have it under control," Willoughby said, jamming a foam pad under one of the scopes.
Willoughby's enthusiasm for science is apparent in her voice. Pointing toward her sponge samples and a group of white-capped vials resting on a bench, she began leading me on a tour of her lab. "In particular we are looking at the beautiful, red-orange sponge Teichaxinella morchella, but we'll take anything they collect that has interesting chemistry."
"The first thing we have to do is dissociate the cells in these sponge samples," she continued. "Placing them in water without magnesium and calcium robs the cell's of their cohesive abilities, and they fall apart."
After the cells have been separated from one another, they are run through a centrifuge. The centrifuge not only concentrates the sponge cells, but also removes a lot of extraneous debris and bacteria.
In the coming days, Willoughby and several other cell biologists on board will test these concentrated cells in different growth mixtures. Ultimately, they want to provide a model for growing viable cells of therapeutically promising marine invertebrates.
Before turning back to her work, Willoughby added, "Of course, we can't do everything we want at sea. So, we cryopreserve some of the enriched samples to take them back to our labs and our colleagues at Harbor Branch."
After our talk I saw more clearly the unique role that each of the scientists plays on board. During the course of the mission, I'll continue to follow the path that these samples take from the depths and through the ship's labs. Eventually, they will pass through the hands of microbiologists, taxonomists, chemists, and molecular biologists. This team's interactions are as diverse as their disciplines, but their efforts are beautifully coordinated toward the acheivement of their common scientific goals.
August 8, 8:53am, Gulf of Mexico, 85 miles west of Sanibel Island, FL -- A routine is beginning to settle onto the ship (not that life on a research vessel at sea is ever, truly routine). The sub has been down for 30 minutes of its three-and-a-half hour dive. It is the first of two dives planned for today, a pattern that should continue for the remainder of the mission.
The batch of sponges recovered from the sea yesterday evening has yielded several of the target animal, Forcepia sp. This morning, Dr. Amy Wright, a natural products chemist at HBOI, will analyze the sponge's chemistry to see if it is producing any compounds that the researchers are seeking.
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