Voyage To Sequence DNA From the World's Oceans

joehoya writes "Wired has an extensive article about an expedition with the goal of discovering new microbial species and new genes in the world's oceans. The expedition is led by J. Craig Venter, who is best known for his involvement in the race to sequence the Human Genome. This is a really fascinating expedition with a pretty high geek quotient. I know, as I set up many of the computer and other electronic systems aboard, and traveled with the expedition as far as the Pacific side of the Panama Canal. In fact, you can see me (ok, the side of my head) in one of the article's pictures, next to the Captain while helping to take a sea water sample."

Comments

Patents?

[mangu]

If you think software patents are bad, then what about gene patents? It seems that a big part of any gene sequencing project these days is an effort to find patentable genes. How can one patent what has existed for thousands or millions of years in nature is beyond my comprehension...

possibly dumb question...

[Daniel Ellard]

If they just grab DNA out of microbes they find floating around in the ocean, how will they know what genes correspond to what? Wouldn't it make more sense to sequence the DNA of things about which we have some knowledge?

(This isn't a rhetorical question -- I'm simply curious but ignorant.)