Visualizing Science 2015–2016
Credit: Brett Baker
Genomes for most of the ocean’s microbial life have yet to be sequenced, but this map, from Brett Baker, an assistant professor of marine science, shows DNA fragments sequenced from the Gulf of Mexico dead zone, an area of low oxygen. Each square is a different DNA fragment from the water. The colored groupings—based on similar DNA sequence composition—represent genomes of newly discovered species that are important to the ecosystem.