Sea urchins that appear to have worked out the secret of eternal life and the discovery of 1.2 million previously unknown genes in a cubic metre of sea water are just two breakthroughs in which Bermuda has recently played a major role.

These gems of knowledge were polished up by Dr. Tony Knap as he gave a speech to Rotarians in Hamilton about the work of the Bermuda Biological Station for Research.

?It?s all about the ocean,? said BBSR director Dr. Knap as he introduced the theme of his luncheon talk, emphasising the all encompassing role the world?s oceans play in the life of the planet.

He said that as the oceans move energy and heat around the globe they affect the weather, including the generating of hurricanes, and within their depths conceal biological secrets that could provide untold benefits to the human race.

Two of the interesting snippets from Dr. Knap?s talk were the seemingly immortal sea urchins and the discovery of more than a million previously unknown genes found in little more than bathtub-sized sample of seawater off the Bermudian coast.

?In Bermuda we research how important the ocean is to all of us. There is more heat in the first metre of our oceans than there is in the whole of the atmosphere,? he said. He spoke about the BBSR?s new research vessel, a 168ft long former ?mud boat? due to arrive early in 2006, that will allow scientists and researchers to go out to sea more often and in rougher weather conditions.

And he also spoke about the station?s associated schools and graduate programmes and the belief that in three to four years time it will be possible to do an ocean research-related PhD in Bermuda.

He urged the audience to take a look at the station?s new Michael Naess building providing 21 units of affordable housing which, in the space of nine weeks, has gone from a ground slab to a three-storey structure.

He then turned to interesting discoveries recently made by the BBSR, including a study of sea urchins led by Dr. Andrea Bodnar into the ability of the sea creatures to operate a DNA telomere mechanism that almost completely arrests the ageing process.

?Sea urchins do not get old. They have these telomeres switched on all the time. If you or I had them on all the time we would get cancer, but the sea urchins do and they live for 200 or 300 years.

?We are hoping to use these sea urchins as models for human health and learn more about cancer.?

The stresses being placed on the structures of coral reefs by environmental change and pollution are also being studied by the BBSR, with Bermuda an important site globally because of the general good health of its coral reefs and the length of continuos oceanographic study locally.

Dr. Knap said the research station was also a major player in the discovery last year of 1.2 million previously unknown genes in a detailed examination of around 200 litres of seawater taken from an area of ocean to the south east of the Island.

That study revealed 1,800 genomic species and 148 previously unknown bacteria.