Global Ocean Sampling Expedition

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The Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling Expedition (GOS) is an Ocean exploration Genome project with the goal of assessing the genetic diversity in marine microbial communities and to understand their role in nature's fundamental processes. Begun as a Sargasso Sea pilot sampling project in August 2003, Craig Venter announced the full Expedition on 4 March 2004^{[citation needed]}. The project, which used Craig Venter's personal yacht, started in Halifax, Canada and circumnavigated the globe and returning to the U.S. in January 2006. The expedition sampled water from Halifax, Nova Scotia to the Eastern Tropical Pacific while undertaking a two year circumnavigation. During 2007, sampling continued along the west coast of North America. Associated with the J. Craig Venter Institute, the project has been cited by at least five scientific papers as of Mar 07 .^{[1][2][verification needed]}

Contents 1 Data Analysis 2 Funding 3 Vessel 4 See also 5 Links 6 References

[edit] Data Analysis

The GOS datasets were submitted to both NCBI (^[1] and to | CAMERA , a new online resource for marine metagenomics funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, developed by JCVI and hosted by UC San Diego's Division of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2). CAMERA's toolset was developed by JCVI, and reflects the tools used in the initial publication of the GOS datasets.

[edit] Funding

The Sorcerer II effort has been funded by:

• the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (Sequencing and analysis)^[2]
• the United States Department of Energy, Office of Science (Sequencing and analysis)^[2]
• The J. Craig Venter Institute (vessel operation)^[2]
• Moore Foundation seven year, $24.5 million, grant (CAMERA)^[2]

[edit] Vessel

Career
Name:	Sorcerer II
Builder:	Cookson
Launched:	1998
Motto:	–
General characteristics
Length:	28.95m
Beam:	7.08m
Draught:	2.84m
Propulsion:	One Cummins 300 HP

SORCERER II completed a 2 year scientific expedition circumnavigating the globe in mid latitudes collecting samples of microbes in seawater for genetic sequencing and cataloguing. She was designed to be not just a world cruising yacht, but one that would be capable of handling the extremes in latitudes, from equatorial heat and humidity to latitudes between 60 and 70 degrees. SORCERER II's construction is light for performance, but very strong, with her kevlar and E glass laiminates, epoxy bonding and carefully chosen core materials.

The vessel was designed by German Frers and carries 634 gallons (2400 litres) of water.

[edit] See also

• J. Craig Venter Institute
• Craig Venter
• marine biology
• Landform
• Microorganisms

[edit] Links

• March 2007 Publication of GOS Data in PLoS, an Open Access Journal. Much information to source from this link for this article.

• [1] A large picture of Venter on her stern.

• [2] Yachtworld.com listing for sale of a "1998 95' T.P. Cookson (US$4,925,000)" a.k.a. Sorcerer II (a/o Feb 2008)
• GOS data in CAMERA

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} | Global Ocean Sampling Expedition project at the J. Craig Venter Institute, Project ID 13694, National Center for Biotechnology Information, web site accessed Mar 17, 2007
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} More than Six Million New Genes, Thousands of New Protein Families, and Incredible Degree of Microbial Diversity Discovered from First Phase of Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling Expedition, 13 March 2007 Press Release, J. Craig Venter Institute