• Question: Does the DNA of species living at extreme depths vary significantly from marine organisms that are not adapted to live in such conditions?

    Asked by to Heather on 19 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Heather Ritchie

      Heather Ritchie answered on 19 Jun 2014:

      What a great question! This is what I am hoping to answer with my current research!

      The completely honest answer is that we don’t know yet but I have a big suspicion that it does. The work that I am currently doing is looking at these differences but there is so much to look at, where do we start? I’m looking at specific genes that I think are important to living at extreme depths. The most difficult condition living in the deep-sea is the incredible pressure there. At the deepest point on earth the pressure would feel the same as an elephant putting all its weight on the nail on your pinky – ouch! So I am looking at genes that are important for tolerating changes in pressure and even though I haven’t finished my research we are beginning to see patterns that show the DNA is different from the amphipods I collected from the beach.

      In the future I would love to look at the difference in DNA between different kinds of animals – crustaceans, fish, sharks etc to see how different their DNA is between them!

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