In this episode of our Behind the Science series, host Damon Stanwell-Smith, Head of Science and Sustainability at Viking, offers a glimpse of the innovative research conducted on board expedition ships in partnership with UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Join Damon as he interviews the scientists running the groundbreaking Genomics At Sea Program (‘GASP’) which runs in the lab of Professor Andy Allen at the J Craig Venter Institute, and is lead in the field by PhD student Christian Johnson. Allison Cusick and Dr Martina Mascioni, who have previously shared insights on Viking TV with their Fjordphyto citizen science program, also feature.  Together they discuss the essential research being undertaken to better understand the ocean, and the critical role that phytoplankton plays in fixing carbon dioxide and replenishing atmospheric oxygen.  Operating from the repurposed PCR laboratories onboard our expedition vessels, they are now undertaking advanced genomics utilizing real-time sequencing of eDNA, to help study phytoplankton in Polar regions and the Great Lakes.