Bright Ideas in Travel 2024

"In 2024, the former PCR labs aboard Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris, as well as the PCR technology itself, were converted into facilities for real-time environmental DNA sequencing: a method that allows scientists to create a full picture of an ecosystem, identifying organisms living there or passing through using just a small sample. Under its Genomics at Sea Program, in partnership with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the J. Craig Venter Institute, Viking hosts researchers to analyze samples of phytoplankton from the ships’ home waters in the Great Lakes, Antarctica, and, beginning in 2025, the Arctic. Much like forests, phytoplankton is a natural carbon sink and crucial for producing atmospheric oxygen. Onboard scientists can monitor the impact of various stressors on these microscopic algae and other species—without costly freezing and transportation or the months-long wait of getting samples to shore."