Ocean Genome Atlas Project

THE OCEAN GENOME ATLAS PROJECT OGAP AIMS TO COLLECT, CLASSIFY, SEQUENCE AND MAP THE GENOMIC INFORMATION OF ORGANISMS REPRESENTING AT LEAST 80 OF THE EXTANT MARINE SPECIES WORLDWIDE. DEPLOYING A FLEET OF ADVANCED BUT COST EFFECTIVE RESEARCH VESSELS TO TRANSECT OUR OCEANS OVER THE COMING DECADES, OGAP WILL ALLOW ACCESS TO ALL OF OUR BLUE PLANET TO HUNDREDS OF SCIENTISTS. THE RESULTING OCEAN GENOME ATLAS WILL BE A GLOBAL 3D GENOMIC ATLAS OF THE WORLDS OCEANS AT SINGLE-CELL RESOLUTION, PROVIDING CRITICAL INFORMATION FOR PLANETARY HEALTH, EVOLUTIONARY AND FUNDAMENTAL BIOLOGY AS WELL AS BIOMEDICINES OF THE FUTURE. THE ATLAS WILL BE A PUBLIC DATABASE AVAILABLE TO RESEARCHERS AND INSTITUTIONS ACROSS THE GLOBE. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE GIVEN ACCELERATING SPECIES EXTINCTION WITH ESTIMATES THAT 50 OF EXISTING BIODIVERSITY COULD VANISH WITHIN A FEW GENERATIONS.

SINCE 2017, OGAP HAS CONDUCTED NINE VOYAGES OVER 15,000 NM ACROSS BOTH THE NORTH PACIFIC AND ATLANTIC OCEANS. THESE VOYAGES HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT SMALLER VESSELS, EQUIPPED WITH A NEW GENERATION OF COMPACT AND POWERFUL LABORATORY EQUIPMENT AND CREWED BY A COMBINATION OF AMBITIOUS SCIENTISTS AND SEASONED OCEAN SAILORS, CAN GATHER NOVEL SPECIMENS IN THE MOST REMOTE AREAS OF THE WORLDS OCEANS AT DRAMATICALLY LOWER OPERATIONAL COSTS. THIS COMBINATION ALLOWS RESEARCHERS CRITICAL ACCESS TO THE GENOMIC DATA CRITICAL FOR UNDERSTANDING FUNDAMENTAL AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY AS WELL AS BUILDING A HIGH RESOLUTION ATLAS OF THE BIODIVERSITY OF OUR OCEANS.