Revolutionary Deep-Sea Research Technology Accelerates Species Discovery
New technologies enable the capture of high-resolution 3D images and preserved tissue of fragile deep-sea organisms within minutes, transforming the process of species identification.
- Researchers from six institutions, led by URI Professor Brennan Phillips, have developed new technologies that can obtain preserved tissue and high-resolution 3D images of fragile deep-sea organisms within minutes.
- The technologies include advancements in underwater imaging, robotics, and genomic sequencing, which can capture detailed measurements and motion of the animal, obtain an entire genome, and generate a comprehensive list of genes being expressed.
- The new process significantly reduces the time required to identify new or rare species, which traditionally could take up to 21 years.
- The study provides a wealth of information from a single specimen gained during a single encounter, which could be useful for extinction prevention studies.
- The mission, funded by the Schmidt Ocean Institute, included two expeditions off the coast of Hawaii and San Diego in 2019 and 2021, collecting as many as 14 preserved tissue samples a day, along with terabytes of quantitative digital imagery.
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