The Voyage of ‘Sorcerer II’: The Expedition That Unlocked the Secrets of the Ocean’s Microbiome

Venter (Life at the Speed of Light), a biotechnologist best known for his work decoding the human genome, and science writer Duncan (A Philosopher on Wall Street) provide a boastful account of the research into oceanic microbiomes conducted on board Sorcerer II, Venter’s “luxury-yacht-turned-research-vessel,” from 2003 to 2018. The authors describe how the ship collected samples of microbial life by sucking up ocean water through a pump and filtering out all but the smallest microorganisms, which they froze and sent to a lab for genomic sequencing. Their results found that “microbes were far more diverse and abundant in the oceans than anyone had previously guessed,” and that some of the viruses collected appeared to “pick up” genes from host bacteria and then deliver them to new hosts. Unfortunately, frequent comparisons of the expedition to Charles Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle come across as overblown—the claim that “humans are just one more organism deeply connected to and dependent on a planet of microbes” is hardly as revolutionary as Darwin’s theories—and the third-person descriptions of Venter as “unflappable,” “a consummate risk-taker,” and “tan and fit” (twice) feel awkwardly self-aggrandizing. This has more swagger than substance. Photos. (Sept.)