Yacht voyage turns up abundant sample of genes

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A yacht voyage that genome pioneer Craig Venter took around the world has turned up a startling array of new genes and new gene families, his team reported on Tuesday.

They have found genes that help microbes use the sun's energy in new ways, genes that help them use nitrogen and genes that protect organisms from ultraviolet light, they reported.

Writing in the Public Library of Science Journal PLoS Biology, Venter's team said they had identified more than 6 million new proteins.

They have not identified new organisms because in their unusual experiment, called the Global Ocean Sampling Expedition, they are looking only at the DNA of the tiny organisms they are sampling.

"We are starting to view the world in a gene-centered fashion," said Venter, one of the researchers who mapped the human genome in a project that wrapped up in 2000.

"Our goal is actually to try and sort out evolution, working back to what organisms are there." He calls his approach "metagenomics."

Venter's team took regular samples of seawater as they traveled aboard the Sorcerer II yacht, which had been transformed into a scientific vessel.

"The purpose ... other than having fun ourselves, is to inspire people that science can be fun at all levels," said Venter, who founded Celera Genomics and now directs the non-profit Craig Venter Institute.