The vessel "Helmer Hanssen" on the Arctic waters of the Lyngen Fjord, northern Norway. Its mission: To discover unknown bacteria that might provide new antibiotics.
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The icy waters of the Norwegian Arctic are a breeding ground for undiscovered bacteria. In this extreme environment, the sea organisms have developed extreme strategies to survive.
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Cell biologist Jeannette Anderson empties sea sponges dredged up from the bottom of the fjord, hoping they will contain new microorganisms.
Samantha Bresnahan/CNN
The researchers take their finds from the bottom of the sea straight to a wet lab on the ship. It is critical to begin testing as soon as possible, ensuring freshness of the organisms.
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The deep-sea creatures are cut open and plated on a petri dish. In a few weeks, bacteria will grow on the plates, hopefully exhibiting antibacterial properties.
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The work is part of the PharmaSea project, which brings together researchers from the UK, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Denmark and the Norwegian town of Tromso, pictured.
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"If no one finds new antibiotics for common infections, what will happen is we will go back to the pre-antibiotic age in which a simple cut could turn into an infection that becomes deadly," said Marcel Jaspars, founder of the PharmaSea project.
