The last leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, the Swedish Archipelago and the Gulf of Bothnia Sampling Transect

The morning of June 25th we left Stockholm and followed the Volvo race boats into the Baltic to watch the start of the last leg of the race to St. Petersburg. Once again there were hundreds of boats on the water to watch the start of the race. As the race began we saw someone waving to Dr....

In the News

We docked in the Volvo Ocean Race Village for a week. It was very exciting to be so close to all of the activities surrounding the race. Over the week Dr. Venter and Karolina and I were interviewed by many local and national TV, radio stations and newspapers. Here are some links to a few of the...

The Volvo Ocean Race

We arrived in Sandhamn at 10 p.m. on June 15th. It was perfect timing because the Volvo Ocean Race boats were arriving around 11 p.m. The Volvo Ocean Race, formally known as the Whitbread “Around the World Race,” began in Alicante on October 11th 2008 and ends in St. Petersburg on June 25th...

Heading to the Mother Land — Sweden

After transiting through the Kiel Canal, the waterway that links the North Sea to the Baltic Sea, and welcoming Dr. Venter in a rainy Copenhagen, we embarked for Sweden, my home and one of the main destinations of our 2009 expedition. It was a proud and special moment for me when first mate,...

Sampling in Helgoland — A warm German welcome for the Sorcerer II

After a little more than two weeks in Plymouth, UK the Sorcerer II set sail on June 3rd. We were sad to say goodbye to our new friends at PLM, but we were grateful for their hospitality, friendship and scientific collaboration. We're looking forward to coming back through Plymouth in the fall....

Cornish Pasties and Jellyfish at the MBA

On Monday we were invited to the Marine Biology Association (MBA) and the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science (SAHFOS) for lunch and a more extensive tour of the laboratories and SAHFOS. This was an excellent opportunity for crew members who missed the first tour. A beautiful table...

The Final Plymouth Sample

On Thursday, May 28th the Sorcerer II crew, accompanied by Dr. Jack Gilbert and two of his PhD students, headed out for one final sampling trip. The destination was E-1, a long term research station for PML located about 25 miles off the coast of Plymouth in the English Channel. As we...

First Sampling in Plymouth Reveals Interesting Blooms — BBC Cameras capture it all!

After a couple of days in Plymouth we were ready for the first of two intense sampling days together with the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML). We had heard rumours about blooms of Phaeocystis, a conspicuous bloom-former in the North Sea and English Channel. When it blooms, it turns the...

Days of Discovery: Plymouth, Sea Urchin Cell Division and More Plankton

After a few days of fairly rough weather and winds up to 50 knots we finally spotted land and made our way to Plymouth. With our social interactions having been restricted to a pod of pilot whales and a few tankers passing through the night, we were excited to see a welcoming committee,...

Scientists in La Jolla Make Progress Understanding New Coronavirus Strain

Gene Drives: New and Improved

As the science advances, policy-makers and regulators need to develop responses that reflect the latest developments and the diversity of approaches and applications.

Pink shoes and a lab jacket: Finding your way as a female scientist

Women in science tell high school girls they, too, can change the world

PEOPLE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD: Jazz piano in La Jolla scientist Clyde Hutchison’s DNA

How AI can help us decode immunity

Artificial intelligence and machine learning will be the keys to unraveling how the human immune system prevents and controls disease

Construction of an Escherichia coli genome with fewer codons sets records

The biggest synthetic genome so far has been made, with a smaller set of amino-acid-encoding codons than usual — raising the prospect of encoding proteins that contain unnatural amino-acid residues.

Public Health is the Next Big Thing at UC San Diego

Researchers have swapped the genome of gut germ E. coli for an artificial one

By creating a new genome, scientists could create organisms tailored to produce desirable compounds