Asian Diver and Scuba Diver Issue 03/2017 (109) | Page 8

# briefing
REGENERATING ANEMONES
The sea anemone is able to regenerate its entire
body after being chopped into pieces, with each
piece growing into a new organism. The ability for
cells from one body part to create an entirely new
body part is not found naturally in vertebrates and
could hold the clues to generating new organs,
such as hearts, from other cells.
A recent study by the University of Florida has
discovered that the heart genes of vertebrates
and flies have what they call “lockdown loops”,
meaning that once their cells have adopted a
function, it is “locked down” and these cells can
not be used for other functions.
However, the starlet sea anemone,
Nematostella vectensis, does not have these
lockdown loops, and it is hoped that by better
understanding how they function, it may be
possible for humans to begin to “unlock” the
ability to regenerate our own organs.
THE INCREDIBLE LEGACY OF FLIGHT MH370
The intense search for missing flight MH370 has
resulted in one of the most detailed maps of the
deep ocean so far created.
Geoscience Australia (the Australian
government agency that coordinated the search)
have now released a small portion of their data
and the results are extraordinary. This previously
little-known region is now known to be made up
of seamounts, trenches, plateaus, canyons,
and rocky outcrops. The level of detail with
which the area was surveyed has also revealed
shipwrecks, whale carcasses, and marine debris
like oil barrels.
While the search did not find the plane, the
information that the search has thrown up will be
useful to geologists, marine biologists, and other
scientists. It is also a fascinating documentation
of a previously completely mysterious part of our
water planet.
THE OCEAN CLEANUP IS ON!
It has been six years in the making, but the
mission that seemed too good to be true is
finally underway!
Many were sceptical of the young Boyan Slat,
the Dutch “dreamer”, when he announced his
plan to construct a system of vast booms that
would collect and remove huge swathes of the
Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Yet, he has raised
more than USD 320 million and iteratively
improved on the system’s original design, and is
set to begin collecting plastic from the ocean by
next year, 2018.
According to his estimates, the newly-
designed booms will be able to remove 50 percent
of the garbage patch in just five years. For more
on the project visit www.theoceancleanup.com
8 SDAA
SDAA