Many Danes are now following with interest the expedition of the Danish patrol ship Vædderen, which Icelanders know well, as the ship has had regular calls in Iceland in recent years on its way to and from Greenland. The ship is currently on an eight-month scientific expedition, called the Galatha 3 project, where it sails around the earth and various research is done.
The Danish parliament provided DKK 80 million, about ISK 960 million, for the project, mainly to make the necessary improvements and changes to Vædderen before embarking on the expedition, which began in mid-August and is scheduled to end at the end of April 2007. In addition, private parties and research funds have contributed a total of over ISK 1 billion to the various scientific studies that are planned to be carried out during the expedition.
Although only half a month has passed since the expedition began, scientists on board believe they have already made some interesting discoveries. This is what dr. Lone Gram, who works for Danmarks Fiskeriundersögelser (DFU), in an interview with Politiken's website that the expedition has found an interesting microbe at a depth of 30 meters in the sea off the Faroe Islands and that can possibly be used, either in the development of new antibiotics or as a preservative. It is worth mentioning that DFU is a sister institution of IFL and the institutes' researchers have had considerable collaboration in recent years.
According to dr. Gram is this micro-organism "military" i.e. it inhibits growth or simply kills other bacteria it comes in contact with. Dr. Gram says in an interview with Politiken.dk that it is clear that the Faroese bacterium, which she temporarily calls S 191, is therefore interesting and that she is looking forward to cultivating it and researching its type better when she returns to Denmark.
This trip Vædderen is the third world tour with this format that the Danes are responsible for. The first was taken on the ship Galatheu I in the years 1845-1847, but then most of the research took place on land. From 1950 to 1952, Galatheu II went on a global voyage, exploring the deep water. You can follow the expedition on the web, at politiken.dk
Sources:
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