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Che frolands are used in drug coanisms that dwell in the depths have been an untapped source, andthe common cold, cancer, or AIDS"

"But surely you can't si back a boatload ofat a laboratory for distribution to your friendly pharmacy?"

"Not as farfetched as you anisms that live in a drop of water can be cultivated, harvested, and rendered into medicines Jellyfish, an invertebrate anies, and several corals are currently being developed into anticancer ents for arthritis pain, and drugs that suppress organ rejection after transplant surgery The test results on a che in co-resistant strain of tuberculosi

s"

"Just where in the ocean are you looking for these wonder drugs?" asked Shannon

"This expedition is concentrating on a ridge of chima from within the earth's h a series of cracks before spreading across the botto Various minerals are deposited over a wide area-copper, zinc, iron, along ater heavy in hydrogen sulfide Incredibly, vast colonies of giant clae tube worms, and bacteria that utilize the sulfur coars live and thrive in this dark and toxic environment It is this re with sub and clinical trials back in the States"

"Are thereon these miracle cures?"

Pitt shook his head "Around the world, maybe fifty or sixty Marine medical research is still in its infancy"

"How long before we see the drugs on the market?"

"The regulatory obstacles are staggering Doctors won't be prescribing many of these medications for another ten years"

Shannon walked over to an array of monitors that filled an entire panel of one bulkhead "This looks impressive"

"Our secondary mission is to map the seafloor wherever the ship sails"

"What are the ?"

"You're looking at the bottoes," Pitt explained "Our long-range, low-resolution side-scan sonar system can record a swath in three-dimensional color up to fifty kilometers wide"

Shannon stared at the incredible display of ravines and mountains thousands of meters below the ship