Syndetics cover image
Image from Syndetics

The voyage of Sorcerer II : the expedition that unlocked the secrets of the ocean's microbiome / J. Craig Venter and David Ewing Duncan.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublisher: Cambridge, Massachusetts : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, [2023]Copyright date: ©2023Description: xvi, 312 pages : illustrations, map ; 22 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780674246478
  • 0674246470
Uniform titles:
  • Secret lives of the earth's smallest creatures
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
Sargasso Sea Surprise -- Planet Microbe -- The Oceans Genome Goes Meta -- Halifax to the Galapagos -- French Polynesia to Fort Lauderdale -- Questing Distant Seas (Further Explorations) -- A Peek into Near-Infinity -- More Microbes than Stars -- A Microbial "Inconvenient Truth" -- Thinking Bigger about Small
Summary: "Craig Venter takes a voyage of discovery across the seas, to learn about the genetics and extraordinary capacities of underwater microorganisms. The Voyage of Sorcerer II reveals an array of previously unknown life, altering our sense of the evolutionary past and pointing the way to biotechnologies that could counter the effects of climate change"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Shelving location Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction New 579.177 V465 Available 33111011319544
Adult Book Adult Book Northport Library NonFiction 579.177 V465 Available 33111011133168
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"Will undoubtedly shape our understanding of the global ecosystem for decades to come."
--Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of The Emperor of All Maladies

A celebrated genome scientist sails around the world, collecting tens of millions of marine microbes and revolutionizing our understanding of the microbiome that sustains us.

Upon completing his historic work on the Human Genome Project, J. Craig Venter declared that he would sequence the genetic code of all life on earth. Thus began a fifteen-year quest to collect DNA from the world's oldest and most abundant form of life: microbes. Boarding the Sorcerer II , a 100-foot sailboat turned research vessel, Venter traveled over 65,000 miles around the globe to sample ocean water and the microscopic life within.

In The Voyage of Sorcerer II , Venter and science writer David Ewing Duncan tell the remarkable story of these expeditions and of the momentous discoveries that ensued--of plant-like bacteria that get their energy from the sun, proteins that metabolize vast amounts of hydrogen, and microbes whose genes shield them from ultraviolet light. The result was a massive library of millions of unknown genes, thousands of unseen protein families, and new lineages of bacteria that revealed the unimaginable complexity of life on earth. Yet despite this exquisite diversity, Venter encountered sobering reminders of how human activity is disturbing the delicate microbial ecosystem that nurtures life on earth. In the face of unprecedented climate change, Venter and Duncan show how we can harness the microbial genome to develop alternative sources of energy, food, and medicine that might ultimately avert our destruction.

A captivating story of exploration and discovery, The Voyage of Sorcerer II restores microbes to their rightful place as crucial partners in our evolutionary past and guides to our future.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Sargasso Sea Surprise -- Planet Microbe -- The Oceans Genome Goes Meta -- Halifax to the Galapagos -- French Polynesia to Fort Lauderdale -- Questing Distant Seas (Further Explorations) -- A Peek into Near-Infinity -- More Microbes than Stars -- A Microbial "Inconvenient Truth" -- Thinking Bigger about Small

"Craig Venter takes a voyage of discovery across the seas, to learn about the genetics and extraordinary capacities of underwater microorganisms. The Voyage of Sorcerer II reveals an array of previously unknown life, altering our sense of the evolutionary past and pointing the way to biotechnologies that could counter the effects of climate change"-- Provided by publisher.

Powered by Koha