Venter s Sargasso Sea Project Identifies 1.2 Million New Genes

NEW YORK, March 4 (GenomeWeb News) -   Researchers from the Institute for Biological Energy Alternatives have used whole-genome shotgun sequencing to identify at least 1,800 new species and more than 1.2 million new genes from the Sargasso Sea, IBEA said today.

This research, paid for by the US Department of Energy's Office of Science, and the J. Craig Venter Science Foundation, was performed in collaboration with the Institute for Genomic Research, the Universityof Southern California, and the Bermuda Biological Station for Research. The study, which was first reported by GenomeWeb News in July 2002, appears in the current issue of Science.

In a statement, IBEA said Venter's center has won a $4.3 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to sequence the DNA collected along the coast of NorthAmericaaboard Venter's yacht, Sorcerer II.

This project is part of the Sorcerer II Expedition, a scientific expedition Venter launched recently that will circumnavigate the globe and survey marine and terrestrial microbial populations. The voyage and sample collection are being funded by the J. Craig Venter Science Foundation and by the Discovery Channel Quest Program, IBEA said.