Onboard R/V Sikuliaq for a DNA sequencing workshop with Oxford Nanopore Technology

In October 2018, Anne-Lise Ducluzeau, post-doc in Devin Drown’s lab at the Institute of Arctic Biology, and 11 undergraduate students of STEMseas and UAF BlaST programs spent a week aboard the R/V Sikuliaq. Their goal was to explore marine communities of the ocean using MinION DNA sequencing stations, of the British company, Oxford Nanopore Technology.

During this transit in Alaskan seas, the ship sailed through multiple storms. Despite winds and seasickness, students sampled several depths of the water column. Within the next 48 hours, they have been able to analyze the data they collected in real-time. They found that the stratification of microbial communities normally observed had been disturbed by the mixing effect of the storms. The success of this outreach activity demonstrates the pertinence and ease of Oxford Nanopore Technology deployment onboard research vessels to give marine biologists access results while still at sea.