Researchers study viruses found in ocean to combat climate change - Fox 28

Researchers study viruses found in ocean to combat climate change

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Scientists working to combat climate change are studying viruses found in the sea that trap carbon dioxide in water.

A key component in climate change is carbon dioxide, though researchers have found that some waterborne microbes in the world's oceans are able to help trap carbon in the ocean by infecting cell clusters and making them heavy enough to drop to the ocean floor.

“Oceans soak up carbon, and that buffers us against climate change," Matthew Sullivan, professor of microbiology and director of the Center of Microbiome Science at the Ohio State University said in a media release. CO2 is absorbed as a gas, and its conversion into organic carbon is dictated by microbes."

Thanks to a combination of AI and genomic sequencing data, scientists have been able to identify which of the ocean's hundreds of thousands of virus species play a role in metabolism of carbon and have been able to develop models to predict how the use of these viruses to capture carbon in the ocean would look.

"The conversation we’re having is, ‘How much of this is transferable?’” Sullivan said. “The overall goal is engineering microbiomes toward what we think is something useful.”

Beyond studying how this can be used to combat climate change, researchers are also looking at ways engineering viruses can be used to improve health in people, including helping combat infections caused by burn wounds, helping people recover from spinal cord injuries, and helping improve quality of life for babies born to mothers with HIV.