Maine research center to probe deep-sea microbes

Bigelow Laboratory’s Single Cell Genomics Center in Maine has extracted and amplified DNA from microbial cells that appear to thrive miles deep in the ocean, which until recently was thought to be devoid of life.

A consortium of scientists, led by a researcher from the East Boothbay lab, has received a major award of services from the U.S. Energy Department to perform single-cell whole genome sequencing of over 300 deep-water microbes that have lived in isolation for millions of years.