Alien Ocean: Anthropological Voyages in Microbial Seas

192 Pages·2009·14.48 MB·English

by  Stefan Helmreich

Alien Ocean
AnthropologicalVoyages in Microbial Seas
STEFAN HELMREICH
University ofCalifornia Press
BERKELEY LOS ANGELES LONDON
Contents
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ListofIllustrations
VII
UniversityofCaliforniaPress,oneofthemostdistinguisheduniver
sitypressesintheUnitedStates,enricheslivesaroundtheworldby Moorings IX
advancingscholarshipinthehumanities,socialsciences,andnatural
Acknowledgments
sciences.ItsactivitiesaresupportedbytheUCPressFoundationand XIII
byphilanthropiccontributionsfromindividualsandinstitutions.For
INTRODUCTION: LIFE AT SEA 1
moreinformation,visitwww.ucpress,edu.
UniversityofCaliforniaPress 1- THE MESSAGE FROM THE MUD: MAKING MEANING
BerkeleyandLosAngeles,California OUT OF MICROBES IN MONTEREY BAY )1
UniversityofCaliforniaPress,Ltd. 2. DISSOLVING THE TREE OF LIFE: ALIEN KINSHIP
London,England
AT HYDROTHERMAL VENTS 68
©2009byTheRegentsoftheUniversityofCalifornia
}. BLUE-GREEN CAPITALISM: MARINE BIOTECHNOLOGY
IN HAWAI'I 106
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
4· ALIEN SPECIES, NATIVE POLITICS: MIXING UP NATURE
Helmreich,Stefan
Alienocean:anthropologicalvoyagesinmicrobialseasIStefan AND CULTURE IN OCEAN O'AHU 145
Helmreich.
5· ABDUCTING THE ATLANTIC: HOW THE OCEAN GOT
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ITS GENOME 171
ISBN978-0-520-25061-1(cloth:alk.paper) 6. SUBMARINE CYBORGS: TRANSDUCTIVE ETHNOGRAPHY
ISBN978-0-520-25062-8(pbk.:alk.paper)
1.Marinemicrobiology-Research. 2.Marinebiologists. 3. AT THE SEAFLOOR, JUAN DE FUCA RIDGE 212
Humanecology. I.Title.
7· EXTRATERRESTRIAL SEAS: ASTROBIOLOGY AND THE
QR106.H45 2008 NATURE OF ALIEN LIFE 250
578.77-dC22 200802°955
ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica Notes 285
18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 Bibliography
)29
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Index
Thepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirements )65
ofANSI/NISOz39.48-1992 (R1997)(PermanenceofPaper).
---------------;
\i
Illustrations
1. DeLong's PowerPointingVitruvianMan 3
2. Chisholm'smarinebiologicalseachange 8
}. Frontpage, Salinas Californian, June 12,:1998 :lO
4· ROV Ventana, launching 34
5· The Point Lobos destination,March7, 200} 38
6. Oceanicsublimemeetsmathematical,mediasublime 43
7· VICKIframe grabofVentana's vantagepointas the ROV
armgraspsatubeworm 45
8. EdDeLong,lookingthroughadish ofclonedcolonies 56
9· Hydrothermalventsystem 70
:10. Darwin'sdiagramofdivergenceoftaxa, :1859 77
:1:1. Threedomains oflife 79
12. "Currentconsensusorstandardmodel" ofthe "universal
treeoflife" 83
:1}. "Reticulatedtree,ornet,which might moreappropriately
representlife's history" 84
:14· "SynthesisofLife" 90
:15· Fenicalin Discover 11.1
16. MarBEClogo 1.17
:17· CMMEDlogo 1.19
18. Cyanobacteriacollection 3
12
19· WestCoastBallastOutreachflyer 14
6
VII
VIII / Illustrations
20. Logo forWaikikialienalgae cleanupevent Moorings
21. Venteron Wired 174
22. Studentsondeckgatheringwatersamplesfrom
the CTD-rosette 180
2}. Microscopeimageofmicrobes from BermudaAtlantic
Time-Series studysite
24. Theauthoratsea, squeezing Sargassovirusesintocryovials
25. PlayingGodin the Galapagos 199
26. EnvisionedNEPTUNEnetworkandsensors
27. WorldExclusiveEconomicZones
28. Ovoidforms insideMartianmeteoriteALH84001
29. Photomosaicofregions onthe surfaceofJupiter's The ocean is strange. For those of us settled in down-to-earth common
moon Europa sense and facts-on-the-ground science, the ocean symbolizes the wildest
kind of nature there is. It represents a contrast to the cultivated land and
even,sometimes,tothesolidorderofcultureitself.Althoughmanypeopl~
havetriedtocapturethissea-whalers,painters,poets,politicians-marine
biologists have offered some of the most authoritative accounts of the
ocean andthe lifeit sustains, particularlyfor publics compelledand capti
vatedbytheexplanatorystories ofscience.
Marine biologists' visions ofthe ocean are today in transformation.
These scientists are learning to see the sea not onlyas the home medium
for marine mammals, fishes, and seaweeds but also as a realm inhabited,
maintained,andmodulatedbyanextraordinarymixofmicrobes,manyof
which live at astonishing extremes oflight, temperature, pressure, and
chemistry.Using molecularbiologicaltechniques, gene sequencing,bioin
formatics, and remote sensing, marine biologists are coming to view the
ocean as aweb ofmicrobiallifejoining the sunniest surfacewaters to the
dimmest depths ofthe sea floor. Novel configurations oftechnology and
theory are leading them to conceptualize the ocean as a site in which the
object ofbiology-life-materializesas anetworkedphenomenonlinking
the microscopic to the macrocosmic, bacteria to the biosphere, genes to
globe.Microbesarekeyfigures inthis newscientificocean,pointers tothe
originoflife,climatechange,andpromisingbiotechnologies.
This book offers an anthropological account of how one cluster of
marine biologists, marine microbiologists, are making such microbes
meaningful-to themselves, to other scientists, and to broader publics. It
examineshowmarinemicrobesarebecomingitemsofinterestandcontest
among such varied players as environmentalists, biotech entrepreneurs,
IX
.:' .'..
,
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);
x I. Moorings Moorings / XI
life, helpful monitors ofclimate control, raw material for new life-saving
indigenous peoples, maritime nation-states, the United Nations, and even
drugs,and,ontheother,beingsalwayserasingthetraceoftheirownorigins,
scientists searchingfor life on other planets.At issue are scientific narra
entities indifferent and adaptable to human ecological disaster, vehicles of
tives aboutlife's beginnings,the empiricalfoundations ofecological senti
seaborne disease. New knowledge in marine microbiology reproduces,
ment,the shapeofglobalmarketeconomies,andtheverydefinitionoflife
reinforces,butalsoreconfiguressuchdoublevisionsofthe ocean.Thecon
itself.The marine microbiologists featured in this bookhope their knowl
stantly shifting quality of such images, I argue, reflects a concern and
edge canbe usedto craftethicallycompellingportraits ofthe sea, pictures
uneaseaboutthefuture oftheoceanandhumanity'srelationtoit.Atstake
toencourageresponsiblestewardshipoftheocean;indeed,somearebegin
for marine microbiologists is the question of how they and their publics
ning to call their field microbial oceanography to argue that their enter
should imagine links between the natural life forms they study and the
prise offers a new mapping ofthe seaitself.These scientists want their
cultural forms oflife-scientific, environmental, economic, religious
descriptions to awaken people to their ecological connectedness to the
withinwhich those organismsmightbecomemeaningful.
ocean while also demanding that we recognize and respect the sea as an
The dual ocean ofsuch marine biologyis haunted by the figure ofthe
entityapart.Theocean,theybelieve,andIagree,willhaveasayinwhether
alien-a sign of uncertainty about what the sea can tell us about life on
humanitysurvivesinits currentform.
Earthandtheplaceofhumansinthisrealm.Thealieninhabitsperceptions
Anthropologists study how beliefs and practices come into being and
oftheseaasadomaininaccessibletodirect,unmediatedhumanencounter.
shape people's experience ofthe world. I consider the ocean a natural as
Thealienappears indescriptions ofthe lifestylesofdeep-sea, heat-loving,
well as a cultural object-a material thing that becomes meaningful only
methane-eating microbes.The alien informs discussions of"alien genes"
through perception, belief, and action.Tracking how marine microbes are
traveling across gene-exchanging marine microbial lineages. Marine
squeezedintoscientificandsocialsignificancerequires understandinghow
biotechnology's dream ofgenetically engineering microbes into commer
marine microbiologists engage their subjects of study through field and
cial products is predicated on the alienability ofthe properties ofliving
laboratorytechniques; esotericand everydaylanguages;academic, regula
things.Thealienmaterializesinworriesaboutaquaticinvasivespecies.The
tory,economic,andlegalstructures;andhistoricallyparticularconceptions
alien disturbs the vision ofscientists studying marine viruses floating in
ofnatureasatoncewithinandbeyondthegraspofrationalrepresentation.
the open sea.The alienlies beneath contests overwho owns the microbial
In this book, I report on several years of ethnographic research among
diversityexistingoutsidenational territory,inthehighseas.Andthe alien
marinebiologistsintheUnitedStates,fromMassachusettstotheHawaiian
takes centerstageinastrobiologicalstudiesofextrememarinemicrobesas
Islands-work I conducted aboard boats both surface and submarine, in
analogsforlifeonalienworlds,liketheplanetMarsandJupiter'sicymoon
labs, at conferences, in the virtual territories of cyberspace, and in such
Europa.
quotidian places as classrooms and movie theaters. I offer not merely an
Allied with the alien, the marine microbe stands todayfor the strange
analyticdescription-thoughthereisplentyofthat-butaninterpretation
nessofthesea. Neitherfully selfnorother,themarine microbeisan alien
ofcontemporarymicrobial oceanography.Thatis, this text is anchoredin
whose purposes we do not know-a strangerwho may be friend or foe,
boththesocialsciencesandthehumanities,thatinterdisciplinaryzonethat
who may offer the unexpected commtinion ofkinship or the irreversible
culturalanthropologyhas inhabitedsinceitsinception.
rescripting of life as we know it. The alien is a channel for exchange
Ihavediscernedtwoparallelvisionsoftheoceanorganizingaccountsof
between the oceanic and the human, a transfer point between an alter
theseadeliveredbymarinebiologists.Ontheonehand, theyseetheocean
natelyembracingandenigmaticoceanandus.Iuse thephrasealien ocean
asintimatelyconnectedtothe humanworld,providingtheecologicalcon
bothto diagnoseascientific, social,andculturalimaginationaboutthesea
text within which we and other living things originated and persist.
I observedin myanthropological studies and to suggestthe limits ofrep
Alternatively,theoceanexistsforthemasanultimateother,anentitywith
resenting this sea, for both oceanographers and social scientists.After all,
aforceandlogicthatmightendlesslyoverwhelmorwashawayourattempts
the alien, as countless science fiction films have instructedus, is often a
torepresentorcontrolitfully.Iarguethatthisoscillationbetweentheocean
fugitive trace,aconstellationofuncertainevidencein motion.
as familiar and strange, as us andnot us, shapes theway marine biologists
apprehendmarine microbes-as, onthe one side, potentialancestors ofall
Acknowledgments
Mydebts aredeep.
I embarked on myethnographicworkat the MontereyBayAquarium
ResearchInstitute (MBARI),whereJudithConnor,directorofinformation
andtechnologydissemination,mademypresencepossible.Iamgratefulto
EdDeLongfor invitingme toparticipatein theworkofhis MBARIlab, to
StevenHallamfor leadingme through the technicaland ethical seascapes
oftoday's marinebiology, and to Pete Girguis for directing me aboard the
research vessel Point Lobos. I also thankAaron Cozen, Jose de laTorre,
Shana Goffredi, John Graybeal, George Matsumoto, Chris Preston, Chris
Scholin, and BobVrijenhoek. Kim Solano, Nathan Sawyer, and J.P. made
me feel at homein the hamletofMoss Landing, andMattMcCarthypro
videdaretreatin Santa Cruz.
DuringmytimeonA'ahu,MichaelCooneywasanincisiveguideintothe
worldofmarinebiotechnology.BobBidigare,MarkGoldman,Jo-AnnLeong,
PatTakahashi,GeorgiaTien,andJianYuhelpedmeunderstandcyanobacte
riapast,present,future.DaveKarlprovidedthebestexplanationofmicrobial
oceanography I could hope to hear, clarifying my course in this book
immensely. For conversations in Hawai'i about microbes, algae, molluscs,
andpolitics,IthankIsabellaAbbott,Pauline Chinn,KaipoFaris,BenFinney,
MargaretMcManus,RebeccaMost,GriegSteward,andMililaniTrask.
WhenIjoinedthefacultyoftheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology,
Penny Chisholm became an invaluable interlocutor about all aspects of
ocean and earth system science.Tracy Mincer and Martin Polz gave me
evolutionary insights into marine microbial genetics. Matt Sullivan and
Virginia Rich were always ready to comment on chapter drafts and game
to view a good (or bad) ocean documentary. At Harvard, Colleen
Cavanaughansweredquestionsaboutventsciencewithwisdomandwit.
XIII
XIV '/ Acknowledgments Acknowledgments / xv
Penny Chisholm enabled me to sign on to an expedition into the ~ Chris Kelty, who taught me to think "against networks." Hillel Schwartz
Sargasso Sea, on whichvoyage I did my best to reciprocate by collecting provided a steady signal ofcitations and observations. Jane and George
marine viruses. BrianBinder andLizMannwere apleasureto travelwith CollierintervenedatanearlystagetomakesureIknewwhereIwashead
and learn from, and the rest of the science party and the crew of R/V 1 ing. I also thank Nadia Abu El-Haj, Samer Alatout, Pamela Ballinger,
Endeavor made the journey-which included a zag into the Bermuda j DebboraBattaglia,DavidBjarnason,TomBoellstorff,GeoffBowker, Laurel
Triangle-aremarkable experience.IthankCorneliaBailey for herhospi Braitman, Tony Crook, Marianne de Laet, Carol Delaney, David Derrick,
talityandnarrativeinsightonSapeloIsland,Georgia. I Virginia Dominguez, Gary Downey, Joe Dumit,Troy Duster, Ron Eglash,
MytriptotheJuandeFucaRidge onR/V Atlantisandinthe deepsub Erika Flesher, Rayvon Fouche, Peter Galison, !lana Gershon, Sharon
mergence vehicle Alvin was made possible by the University of Ghamari-Tabrizi, Sherine Hamdy, Evelynn Hammonds, Donna Haraway,
Washington'sDeborahKelley,whowelcomedmeontoherexpeditionwith CoriHayden, EvaHayward,DeborahHeath,Aida Hermindez,DavidHess,
wry humor and catching enthusiasm.Among the science party, I particu Linda Hogle, Mimi Ito, Sarah Jain, Sarah Jansen, Sheila Jasanoff, Henry
larly thank Deb Glickson, Jim Holden, and Kris Ludwig. i dived in Alvin Jenkins, Natalie Jeremijenko, CarinaJohnson, Douglas Kahn, Wyn Kelley,
with geologist John Delaney and pilot Bruce Strickrott, extraordinary Eduardo Kohn, Wen-Hua Kuo, Anthony Lioi, Margaret Lock, Theresa
guidesintoanextraordinaryrealm. MacPhail, RobertMarkley,EmilyMartin, SallyEngleMerry, LisaMesseri,
Backonland,IthankLynnMargulisfor aneye-openingfieldtrip tothe ZaraMirmalek,HiroMiyazake,MichaelMontoya,LynnMorgan,Chandra
SippewissettmarshonCapeCodandalsoforhermicroscopicreadingofmy Mukerji, Robin Nagle,Alondra Nelson, Diane Nelson, Damien Neva, Julie
writingon astrobiology. FromWoods Hole,I thankMitch Sogin,Andreas Olson, Susan Oyama, Gisli Palsson,Trevor Pinch, Marcelle Poulos, Paul
Teske,andCarlWirsen.IthankFordDoolittlefor multiplereadings ofmy Rabinow,Hugh Raffles,RonaldRainger, RaynaRapp,JennyReardon,Peter
argumentsaboutthe tree oflife.IthankmarinebiotechnologistDominick Redfield, Annelise Riles, Lars Risan, Michael Rossi, Dan Segal, Bill
Mendola ofEncinitas, California, for sharing his life story. From farther Shackford, Elta Smith, Levent Soysal, Stefan Sperling,JaredStark, Hallam
flungworldsIthankLokaBharathi,ChuckFisher,StephenHourdez,Karen Stevens, Ajantha Subramanian, Karen-Sue Taussig, Rebecca Thomas,
Nelson, Lata Raghukumar, Frank Robb, andArt Yayanos. Deborah Day, CharisThompson, Miranda von Dornum, CathyWaldby, WendyWalker,
archivist at the Scripps Institution ofOceanography, helped me scout out CharlesWatkinson,KathWeston,andLambertWilliams.
odddocuments inmarinebiologicalhistory. The anthropology program at MITis a lively, congenial place to think
Friends,colleagues,andstudentsfromtherecombinantworldsofscience and work. For their close readings of chapters, I thank Jim Howe, Jean
studiesandanthropology-aswellasfrommediastudies,literarycriticism, Jackson, EricaJames, Susan Silbey,andChrisWalley.HughGustersonand
andhistory-helpedmegetmybearingsamidawashoftopicsthatthreat Susan Slymovics, though nowpostedelsewhere, remain the bestmentors
enedtoswampmeentirely.Amongthosewhosesoundingsprovedessential onecouldhopetohave.RosieHeggandAmberlySteward,programadmin
foroutliningtheshapeofthebookwereBillMaurer,whoseanthropologies istrators' provided essential aid in getting this manuscript out the door.
of fishes-cryptogenic, star-shaped, and lateral-lined-kept my social
Colleagues in MIT's broader program in History, Anthropology, and
theory suitably at sea; Sarah Franklin,who first shepherdedmy rumina Science,Technology, andSocietyalso engagedwithAlien Ocean earlyon,
tions on sea science into print; Mike Fortun,who read the betaversion of in part or entirety. I thank Michael Fischer, Deborah Fitzgerald, David
this manuscript and made salutary suggestions for resequencing my data; Jones, Evelyn Fox Keller, Vincent Lepinay, Ken Manning, DavidMindell,
Rich Doyle, whose transmissions reassured me about the aliens; Cari HarrietRitvo, andSherryTurkle. IthankgraduatestudentsinBiogroop, a
Costanzo Kapur, who helpedme navigate the choppy waters ofHawaiian reading collective with whom I had many vital conversations. Etienne
politics; Dmitry Portnoy, who read across lines of anthropological and Benson, Natasha Myers, Sophia Roosth, and SaraWylie will find in this
genetic text for surface tensions and submarine meanings; Cris Moore, bookmanytransductionsofourdiscussions.
whose grapplingwith time, space, andscalingin theoretical computer sci
Portions ofAlien Ocean have been presented to avariety ofacademic
ence helped me unknot loops in my underwater arguments; Hannah audiences. I thank listeners atAmherst, Bowdoin, Cornell, Harvard, MIT,
Landecker, who asked clarifying questions when I got muddled up; and theMontereyBayAquariumResearchInstitute,MountHolyoke,theNew
XVI . / Acknowledgments Acknowledgments / XVII
School for Social Research, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rice, the Arguments I originally developed in the following articles are reprinted
SchoolofAmericanResearch,UCBerkeley,UCIrvine,UCSantaCruz,the withpermission:
University ofHawai'i at Manoa, the UniversityofIceland, the University
I Treesand SeasofInformation:Alien Kinship andthe Biopoliticsof
ofWisconsinatMadison,andWesleyan. t
GeneTransferinMarineBiologyandBiotechnology.American
Financialsupport for this projectwas providedbyGrant no. 6993 from
Ethnologist30(3):340-58.PublishedUniversityofCaliforniaPress,
theWenner-GrenFoundationforAnthropologicalResearchandbyawards ~
©2oo3AmericanAnthropologicalAssociation.
fromtheofficeofMIT'sDeanofHumanities,Arts,andSocialSciences.The
~····1·'
2006 James A. and Ruth Levitan Prize in the Humanities, administered , HowScientistsThink;About'Natives,' for Example:AProblemof
throughMIT,helpedmefinishthemanuscript. MyeditorsatUniversityof TaxonomyamongBiologistsofAlienSpeciesinHawaii. TheJournal of
California Press, Stan Holwitz and Elizabeth Berg, made production pro theRoyalAnthropologicalInstitute, IncorporatingMAN 11(1):
ceed swimmingly. Copyeditor John Thomas tamed all manner ofgram 107-28.©2oo5The RoyalAnthropologicalInstitute.
I
I
maticalandtypographicalmonsters. The SignatureofLife:DesigningtheAstrobiologicalImagination.
To gather up, finally, the most traditional knots ofkinship, I thank my Grey Room 23(4):66-95.©2006TheMITPress.
parents,MaryandGisbertHelmreich,whoremindmethattheoceanwaits
Blue-Green Capital,BiotechnologicalCirculation,andan Oceanic
for meinSouthernCalifornia.Myin-laws,TomandJudiPaxson,continue
Imaginary:A CritiqueofBiopoliticalEconomy. BioSocieties 2(3):
to amaze me with their selfless dedication to kith, kin, and socialjustice.
287-302.©2oo7CambridgeUniversityPress andtheLondonSchool
My wife and partner in all things anthropological, HeatherPaxson, made
ofEconomicsandPoliticalScience.
theresearchandwritingofthisbookpossible,travelingwithmetoobscure
AnAnthropologistUnderwater:Immersive Soundscapes,Submarine
portsandplaces,joiningherownthinkingonhumanandmicrobialcheese
Cyborgs,andTransductive Ethnography.American Ethnologist34(4):
cultureswith mine onseas, andreading tirelessly through endless rafts of
621-41.PublishedUniversityofCaliforniaPress, ©2oo7American
chapterdrafts.Heathermade thisbookthinkable,foritwasshewhoimag
AnthropologicalAssociation.
ined the title, Alien Ocean. Her love is a constant current that keeps me
going. Our toddler son, Rufus Paxson Helmreich, soaking up multiple
viewings ofYellow Submarine as Ifinished this book, filled my eleventh
hoursalliesthrough the seaofsciencewithhappilyaliensing-alongs.
BeforeembarkingonMoby-Dick, HermannMelvillewroteto hisfriend
andfather-in-law,JudgeLemuelShaw,"Itismyearnestdesiretowritethose
sortofbookswhicharesaidto'fail.'" AlthoughIcannothopeto failasspec
tacularly as Melville, this bookdoes press againstlimits in my abilities to
comprehendand articulate all that crossedmyanthropologicalpath. Ionly
hopesuchfailuresaseddythroughthesepagesare,likealiens,usefullydiag
nosticoftoday's difficultiesinapprehendingthelawsofnatureatsea.
Cambridge, Massachusetts,
and Encinitas, California, 2008
Introduction: Life at Sea
Droppingoffthe edgeofCalifornia,theunderseacanyonofMontereyBay
falls 4,000metersintoanink-darkworld.Itisarealmoftubeworms,clams,
and the oddwhale skeleton, invisibly scrimshawednowbymicrobes bur
rowing for minerals in bones broken up andbreaking down.Above this
abyssal district fly fleets of tuna, salmon, and sharks as well as sealions,
harborseals,andporpoises.Closertoshore,SiliconValleyscubadiversprac
tice their submarine yoga amid forests of kelp and smacks of jellyfish.
Oceanographers, suspendedon the surface, hauljugs ofseawater onto the
decksofresearchvessels.InthenearbycoastaltownofMossLanding,DNA
sequencing machines are set to scan for signs oflife, primed to read the
genesofmarinemicroorganismsfloatingwithinthesemicrocosmicseas.
SittinginalecturehalloverlookingthebayonaJunedayin2000,Iam
listening to microbiologist Ed DeLong as he addresses patrons of the
MontereyBayAquarium.Heinformshisaudience thatlifeonEarthlikely
originated in swarming seawater, descending perhaps from a crew of
microbesnamedtheArchaea, or"ancientones,"themostfamous ofwhich
reside at high-pressure, high-temperature, sulfur-spittingvolcanic vents
on the seafloor.These extraordinarymicroorganisms,DeLong says,might
\
t revealtheuppertemperaturelimitsoflifeandevensuggesttheoutlinesof
life forms on lightless alien worlds, like Jupiter's satellite Europa, which
may host hydrothermal activity. Microbial extremophiles-Iovers of
\
extremes-are ubiquitous on Earth, integral to the maintenance ofthis
oceanplanet.
Though they are vanishingly small, marine microbes range across
myriad ecological contexts and operate at global scales. DeLong tells us:
"Microbesareresponsibleforthehealthoftheoceans.Theyshapethechem
istryoftheseaandthe atmosphere.Theseorganisms thatwecan'tevensee
1
r
2 / Introduction: Lifeat Sea Introduction: Lifeat Sea / 3
are extremelyimportant.These little guys control the biogeochemistry of
l
ourworld.Theyarethestewardsofourplanet."Microbesarepivotalplay
ers in those processes through which atmosphericcarbon, nitrogen, phos
phorous,andsulfurareconvertedintothebodiesofearthlyorganismsand
back into elemental substance. Detailing the dizzying multiplicity of
microbial life-from heat- to cold- to acid-loving archaea, to biolumines
cent bacteria, to everyday phytoplankton floating on the sea surface
DeLong guides us on a slide show through what he calls "microscopic
forests ofthesea,"aphrasethatconjuresimagesofrainforests,potentter
restrial symbols of ecological diversity. In DeLong's rendering, marine
microbesprovidevitalbondstobioticforces pastandpresent.
And future. DeLong catalogs the potential of extremophilic marine
microbes to supply materials to biotechnology. Heat-loving microbes in
deep-seaventsofferenzymesthatenable the copyingofDNAinthelab,a
high-temperatureprocesscrucialto genesequencing. Cold-lovingbacteria
are promising sources for pharmaceuticals. Microbes thriving on petro
leum hydrocarbons, toxic to most creatures, might digest oil spills. In
DeLong's depiction, the microbial sea emerges as a storehouse ofcurative
powersthathumans mightharness, transformingthe mostalienlifestyles
intoalliedforces tohealpeopleandplanet.
Marinemicrobiology-longtheprovinceofseasickscientists struggling FIGURE1. DeLong'sPowerPointingVitruvianMan."Earth:TheBlue
toisolatesinglecellsinunstableculturemediaonunstableboats-isunder Marble,"imagecourtesyofNASA,createdbyRetoStockliwithAlan
goingsomethingofa renaissance. Ledin the UnitedStatesbyDeLongand Nelson,underFritzHasler,forNASA'sVisibleEarthProject.Vitruvian
ManphotobyLucViatour,reproducedunderGNUFreeDocument
colleaguesinMontereyBay,atMIT,andtheUniversityofHawai'i,thefield
ationLicence.Compositeimage,afterDeLong,byMichaelRossi.
isincreasinglydescribedas microbialoceanography, aphrasingthatmakes
mappingmicrobiallifecoincidentwithmappingtheseaitself,thatsuggests
thatmicrobesarenotjustin theseabut,inanimportantsense,are thesea.! across scalesofhumanandplanetaryembodiment,fromplacingthebio
DeLongoffersan emblemfortherevolutioninastrikingPowerPointslide: diversity-richAmazontoVitruvianMan'sleftandahurricane-harbinger
an image ofthe whole Earth, seen from space, upon which sits superim of global warming-to his right, from juxtaposing Species Man with
posedLeonardo daVinci's Vitruvian Man (ca. :1485-90), the perfectlypro MotherEarth,andfrompresentingadistantbutdazzlingviewofanEarth
portioned figure proposed by the ancient Roman architectVitruvius as a atonceextraterrestrialandfamiliar. Reflectingontheslide,DeLongoffers,
metric for the construction oftemples and resurrected in the 1990S as a "Earth is a misnomer. The planet should be called Ocean-or maybe it
symboloftheHumanGenomeProject(figure1).DeLongdisplaysthisicon should be called Life or even Ocean Life." Invoking the Greek goddess
to argue that the genetic techniques aimed at decoding human biology whose name hasbecomesynonymouswiththehypothesis thatourplanet
might be extended to what he calls "this otherbeast, our living planet." is aself-regulatingsystem,headds, "Gaiafits."
Gene sequencing and DNAdatabasing-genomics and bioinformatics I am transfixed by this image, not least because my own discipline,
affordmicrobiologists fresh waysofscrutinizingtheplanet'smembraneof anthropology,alsoplaceshumanityatitscenter,butmore,becausetheman
marinemicrobes,linkinggenomes tobiomes.2 intheplanetarypetridishpointsmeto questionsabouttheculturalcoordi
ThepowerofDeLong'simagederivesfrompastingtheiconographyof natesofDeLong'svisionofthemicrobialocean.Howdoesthemicrobialsea
early modern science into the frame ofsatellite imaging, from reaching restage orreconfigure olderviews ofthe ocean as a primordial life-giving