The Voyage of Sorcerer II: The Expedition That Unlocked the Secrets of the Ocean’s Microbiome

by J. Craig Venter, David Ewing Duncan, Erling Norrby (Foreword)

“Will undoubtedly shape our understanding of the global ecosystem for decades to come.”
―Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of The Emperor of All Maladies

A celebrated genome scientist sails around the world, collecting tens of millions of marine microbes and revolutionizing our understanding of the microbiome that sustains us.

Upon completing his historic work on the Human Genome Project, J. Craig Venter declared that he would sequence the genetic code of all life on earth. Thus began a fifteen-year quest to collect DNA from the world’s oldest and most abundant form of microbes. Boarding the Sorcerer II , a 100-foot sailboat turned research vessel, Venter traveled over 65,000 miles around the globe to sample ocean water and the microscopic life within.

In The Voyage of Sorcerer II , Venter and science writer David Ewing Duncan tell the remarkable story of these expeditions and of the momentous discoveries that ensued―of plant-like bacteria that get their energy from the sun, proteins that metabolize vast amounts of hydrogen, and microbes whose genes shield them from ultraviolet light. The result was a massive library of millions of unknown genes, thousands of unseen protein families, and new lineages of bacteria that revealed the unimaginable complexity of life on earth. Yet despite this exquisite diversity, Venter encountered sobering reminders of how human activity is disturbing the delicate microbial ecosystem that nurtures life on earth. In the face of unprecedented climate change, Venter and Duncan show how we can harness the microbial genome to develop alternative sources of energy, food, and medicine that might ultimately avert our destruction.

A captivating story of exploration and discovery, The Voyage of Sorcerer II restores microbes to their rightful place as crucial partners in our evolutionary past and guides to our future.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science

336 pages, Hardcover

Published September 12, 2023

About the author

DR. J. CRAIG VENTER is regarded as one of the leading scientists of the 21st century for his invaluable contributions in genomic research, most notably for the first sequencing and analysis of the human genome published in 2001 and the most recent and most complete sequencing of his diploid human genome in 2007.

He is Co-Founder, Chairman, CEO, Co-Chief Scientific Officer of Synthetic Genomics, Inc; as well as Founder, President and Chairman of the J. Craig Venter Institute. He was also the founder of Human Genome Sciences, Diversa Corporation and Celera Genomics. He and his teams have sequenced more than 300 organisms including human, fruit fly, mouse, rat, and dog as well as numerous microorganisms and plants.

Dr. Venter is also the key leader in the field of synthetic genomics. This work, trying to create the first synthetic genome, is leading to extraordinary advances in engineering microorganisms for many vital energy and environmental applications used at SGI. He is the author of more than 200 research articles and is among the most cited scientists in the world. He is the recipient of numerous honorary degrees and scientific awards including the 2008 National Medal of Science. He is also a member of many prestigious scientific organizations including the National Academy of Sciences.

He is the author of A Life Decoded: My Genome: My Life.

Reviews

[Mike Dettinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing mix of (sailing) travelogue and science, following craig venter’s mission to use the tools from human genome project and new strategies of metagenomics to map the microbial populations and ecosystems all around the world’s oceans, 2003 to 2018. It’ll be a century (perhaps) before anyone figures out what it all means. But this is a front row seat regarding how it all began. And a look into what happens when “we” ask the biggest questions of all about the smallest things of all at the scale of an entire planet.

[jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

The making of science is one of my favorite topics and I really enjoyed this book. However, it took a bit of time to get into - I think the style of writing makes it more difficult for a popular audience to digest. It’s written as half academic article and half popular science narrative in the third person, leading it to fall into neither camp and instead taking a meandering and sometimes difficult to follow storyline. At the same time, the book captures many aspects that would not be in a scientific publication, primarily everything that goes into research beyond the research and data itself. In this case, I think the story is so extensive, no particular area goes into great depth or detail, which makes it a little challenging for me personally, as it tends to give the impression of many anecdotes strung together in the name of research and leaves the reader to draw their conclusions in regards to the process and politics of society surrounding the science or making of the science and research itself. I think different editing could have resolved this, as the author is obviously an esteemed scientist who has not only made many contributions to science, but has also just led a fascinating life. 4 for the book, 3 for the editing,

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finished this a while back. The premise is definitely more interesting than many other science books. The exploration, the discoveries, wow!

However, the book reads as an unrelenting Craig Venter autofellatio: “Only someone like Craig could do this!” “Being able to work on a boat with the man who mapped the human genome? Gee-willickers… how awesome he is!”

While it is totally in line with Venter’s personality of self promotion, the practice wears thin when you are aware of his many issues (ex. trying to patent genes and limit research on them, direct submitting panned drivel to PNAS on predicting the faces of people from DNA, etc.). When there are millions of quality books in the world, and an ever increasing catalog of scientific literature well written for a general audience, why concern yourself with a J Craig Venter Institute advert in book form?

[N S · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a travelogue of the initial sample collection than anything insightful as to the findings. I enjoyed the travelogue but the back half of the book underwhelmed. I’d hoped for a popular science version of a review article of the voyages’ finding, but was disappointed really. There was next to nothing about how the microbes differed between the places, only a few numbers about genes, and unexpected levels of diversity. Overall the Voyage of the Sorcerer II has been far less insightful than the Voyage of the HMS Beagle.

[John Siebelink · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very intriguing book from a scientific point of view, but not well-written. The book jumps around all over the place, characters are fleshed out and never mentioned again, and is very repetitive at times.

You are better off reading a magazine or Wikipedia article if you really want to know the story behind this “voyage”.

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

The adventures were brilliant, yet the writing was lacking. It was inconsistent and failed to engage.