With the ocean facing a rising tide of threats, understanding marine biodiversity is more urgent than ever. Cataloging life across the global ocean remains a challenging task. Environmental DNA (eDNA)—the genetic material shed by organisms—has promising potential to expedite surveys of marine life.

Last week, MBARI hosted an international group of experts from leading academic and philanthropic organizations to identify opportunities to scale eDNA sampling efforts across the global ocean.

“We urgently need to catalog life in the ocean in order to better understand and protect marine ecosystems from threats like climate change. This effort requires innovative solutions driven by emerging DNA and robotics technologies and collaboration. As a leader in ocean engineering, MBARI welcomed the opportunity to share our expertise with our peers to advance this critical work,” said MBARI President and CEO Antje Boetius.

The three-day workshop, Towards Sustainable Global Marine Omics Observation and Coordination, included 40 participants from 25 different organizations. Through a series of presentations and discussions, participants explored interoperability, comparability, scalability, and long-term use of eDNA for observing marine ecosystems. Breakout sessions took a deeper dive into specific aspects of eDNA survey procedures, including sample acquisition, processing and long-term storage, and data processing and visualization.

Participants used the upcoming Antarctica InSync program as a case study to drive the workshop agenda and clarify near-term coordination opportunities. This international UN Ocean Decade program will soon begin field surveys across a diverse array of Antarctic environments, from near shore to the deep sea, affording a unique opportunity to leverage eDNA sampling technology to survey biodiversity in the Southern Ocean, where climate change is rapidly accelerating ecosystem change.

Collaboration is at the core of MBARI’s work. Our partnerships around the world are providing vital information that resource managers, policymakers, and local communities can use in their decision-making about the future of the ocean and the management of marine resources. Together with our peers in the ocean exploration community, we are transforming marine science and conservation, guiding a path that secures the future of the largest living space on Earth.