Rockefeller University

Program for the Human Environment

News

Discoveries of the Leonardo Da Vinci DNA Project

Biologists in the Leonardo Da Vinci DNA Project have shared a trio of fascinating, innovative papers.

Manolito G. Torralba, Claire Kuelbs, Kelvin Jens Moncera, and Karen E. Nelson of the J Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, California, and Rhonda Roby of the Alameda California County Sheriff’s Office Crime Laboratory, used small, dry polyester swabs to gently collect microbes from centuries-old, Renaissance-style art in a private collector’s home in Florence, Italy. Their findings are published open access in the journal Microbial Ecology, “Characterizing microbial signatures on sculptures and paintings of similar provenance.”

Concurrently available are a pair of papers by David Thaler, of the University of Basel and a guest investigator in the Program for the Human Environment.  David’s papers are

“Evidence for extraordinary visual acuity in Leonardo’s comment on a dragonfly,” and “Sfumato in Leonardo’s portraits: Optical and psychophysical mechanisms.”

Thaler’s papers form part of a collection now in press as a book: Actes du Colloque International d’Amboise: Leonardo de Vinci, Anatomiste. Pionnier de l’Anatomie comparée, de la Biomécanique, de la Bionique et de la Physiognomonie, edited by Henry de Lumley, CNRS editions, Paris.

Two major newswires, Agence France Presse and Agencia EFE, each did separate stories:

Manny Torralba et al.
AFP Microbes Could ‘help Save Old Masters’ And Catch Forgers

Agencia EFE Identificar microbios en obras de arte abre la puerta a una mejor preservación

David Thaler

AFP  Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘quick eye’ may be key to Mona Lisa’s magnetism  

German version Forscher: «Schnelles Auge» half da Vinci beim Zeichnen und Malen

https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/cultura/artes-visuales/la-rapidez-visual-de-da-vinci-explicaria-la-sonrisa-de-la-mona-lisa

Agencia EFE La rapidez visual “súper desarrollada” de Da Vinci podría explicar la sonrisa de la Mona Lisa

LiveScience, United States Did Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘quick eye’ help him capture Mona Lisa’s fleeting smile?

By Leonardo Da Vinci DNA Project (summary)

Genetic detectives ID microbes suspected of slowly ruining humanity’s treasures

Reuters article on COVID-19 & Quiet Ocean Experiment

Journalist Maurice Tamman wrote an excellent, widely published article, Pandemic offers scientists unprecedented chance to hear oceans as they once were, about the International Quiet Ocean Experiment (IQOE) for Reuters.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Eleven years ago, environmental scientist Jesse Ausubel dreamed aloud in a commencement speech: What if scientists could record the sounds of the ocean in the days before propeller-driven ships and boats spanned the globe?

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-climate-research-i/pandemic-offers-scientists-unprecedented-chance-to-hear-oceans-as-they-once-were-idUSKBN23F1M3

even picked up by the New York Times and in the hard copy edition of the Washington Post.

The 2009 Dalhousie University Commencement Address to which it refers is posted here: https://phe.rockefeller.edu/news/2009/11/30/son-et-lumiere-exciting-updates/,  published on 23 November 2009 by the monthly science magazine, SEED, as Broadening the Scope of Global Change to Include Illumination and Noise.

The 5th IQOE Newsletter is here.

A vivid set of  2019 articles about the oceans authored by Maurice Tamman and Co.: Maurice Tamman, Matthew Green, Mari Saito, Sarah Slobin and Maryanne Murray – Reuters: Ocean shock: The climate crisis beneath the waves

A good 2019 article in German about ocean sound by Nicola Jones that mentions our work: Das Streben nach leiseren Meeren.

Passing of marine biologist Ron O’Dor

The chief scientist of the Census of Marine Life, Ron O’Dor, passed away in Nova Scotia from COVID-19 at the age of 75 on 11 May 2020.  Ron was a curious, good-humored colleague. 

Jesse first met Ron in December 1997 at a meeting at the New England Aquarium to assess the feasibility of censusing the “non-fish nekton.” Ron represented the cephalopods, very well. Ron’s creativity immediately became apparent. Chats about the potential of Internet databases with spatial information about marine species led Ron to enlist his grad student James Wood to create CephBase, for all squids and octopi. CephBase launched in 1998, biblical times for on-line services, pre-dating Google.  By the time the CoML officially launched at the start of 2000, it was clear the program would need a full-time senior scientist. Ron was the unanimous preference of the founding members of the Scientific Steering Committee.

The CoML went terrifically well in large part because Ron brought many outstanding people into the program, always neatly aligned with CoML objectives. His ability to work on airplanes and in hotel rooms amazed everyone. It did not matter where he was or when it was, work got done, and was always well-written and clean. The Baseline Report that Ron (sole author) produced in October 2003 was a tour de force and did much to establish the credibility of the program.

A remembrance from the Ocean Tracking Network and an obituary in the Chronicle Herald.

The Ron O’Dor Memorial Fund has been set-up to sustain his legacy: giving.dal.ca/ronodor  Deep condolences to his widow Janet and family and the Dalhousie science community of which he was a formative member.

COVID & The World Interview with Jesse Ausubel

The website Human Progress launches a new video series called The Covid Tonic. The series features conversations between renowned scholars and editor, Marian L. Tupy. The interviews focus on the global impact of COVID-19 and the continued importance of rational optimism. Episode 1 features the environmental scientist Jesse Ausubel, a Human Progress Board Member and Director of the Program for the Human Environment at The Rockefeller University in New York City. 


Watch the full video here. 

News coverage about surprising Jersey Shore fish spotted w eDNA

National Fisherman May 14, 2020 Genetic markers reveal Brazilian cownose rays, Gulf kingfish in New Jersey waters Kirk Moore

Agencia EFE (via El Diario, Spain) El analísis de ADN medioambiental detecta migraciones de especies marinas https://www.eldiario.es/sociedad/analisis-ADN-medioambiental-migraciones-especies_0_1026448521.html

Prensa Latina, Cuba Descubren nuevos patrones de migración de especies marinas tropicales https://www.prensa-latina.cu/index.php?o=rn&id=365583&SEO=descubren-nuevos-patrones-de-migracion-de-especies-marinas-tropicales

Globedia, Spain Detectan migraciones de especies marinas gracias al ADN medioambiental https://globedia.com/detectan-migraciones-especies-marinas-gracias-adn-medioambiental

Revista Planeta, Brazil  Arraia típica do Brasil está chegando perto da costa de Nova York https://www.revistaplaneta.com.br/arraia-tipica-do-brasil-esta-chegando-perto-da-costa-de-nova-york/

DIVE Magazine, UK DNA Traces Prove To Be Useful Tool in Understanding Fish Populations https://divemagazine.co.uk/eco/8973-tracking-and-tracing-in-the-ocean-using-dna-residue

New PHE paper about surprising species found off New Jersey

Front. Mar. Sci., 05 May 2020 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00226

Improved Environmental DNA Reference Library Detects Overlooked Marine Fishes in New Jersey, United States

Mark Y. Stoeckle*, Mithun Das Mishu and Zachary Charlop-Powers

  • Program for the Human Environment, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, United States

An accurate, comprehensive reference sequence library maximizes information gained from environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding of marine fishes. Here, we used a regional checklist and early results from an ongoing eDNA time series to target mid-Atlantic U.S. coastal fishes lacking reference sequences. We obtained 60 specimens representing 31 species from NOAA trawl surveys and institutional collections, and analyzed 12S and COI barcode regions, the latter to confirm specimen identification. Combined with existing GenBank accessions, the enhanced 12S dataset covered most (74%) of 341 fishes on New Jersey State checklist including 95% of those categorized abundant or common. For eDNA time series, we collected water samples approximately twice monthly for 24 months at an ocean and a bay site in New Jersey. Metabarcoding was performed using separate 12S primer sets targeting bony and cartilaginous fishes. Bioinformatic analysis of Illumina MiSeq fastq files with the augmented library yielded exact matches for 90% of the 104 fish amplicon sequence variants generated from field samples. Newly obtained reference sequences revealed two southern U.S. species as relatively common warm season migrants: Gulf kingfish (Menticirrhus littoralis) and Brazilian cownose ray (Rhinoptera brasiliensis). A beach wrack specimen corroborated the local presence of Brazilian cownose ray. Our results highlight the value of strengthening reference libraries and demonstrate that eDNA can help detect range shifts including those of species overlooked by traditional surveys.