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The human intestines contain a complex and diverse community of microbes that break down food to produce metabolites. Some metabolites are beneficial to human health, such as vitamins, while others can be harmful and lead to obesity or gastrointestinal disorders. A major gap in the microbiome field is measuring and understanding these metabolites.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, German scientists and surveyors crossed choppy waters and braved dangerous conditions on ships called the Gazelle, Valdivia and Planet. These arduous expeditions, one of which circumnavigated the globe, yielded several discoveries—including the first documented vampire squid—at a time when little was known about life in the deep sea. 

The University of Maryland has received a $1.75 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to continue development of open-source technology to expand digital access to manuscripts and books from the premodern Islamicate world in Arabic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish and Urdu.