Probing the mysteries of life

"Looking through a porthole at the sea, we are surrounded on all sides by vast horizons. No one would believe the wonders and beauty that lie below in the colossal Whittard Canyon.’’

THE words of Hugh O’Sullivan, of NUI Galway, who is among a research group trying to unravel some of the mysteries of life well beneath the waves and whose work may lead to new drugs to help treat diseases such as arthritis.

Researchers from Ireland, Britain, the US and Germany on board the Marine Institute’s Celtic Explorer are using the institute’s remotely-controlled submarine technology to study a wide range of deep-water animals.