{"172101":{"#nid":"172101","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Whale Shark Study Used Metabolomics to Help Understand Shark and Ray Health","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENew research from Georgia Aquarium and Georgia Institute of Technology provides evidence that a suite of techniques called \u201cmetabolomics\u201d can be used to determine the health status of whale sharks (\u003Cem\u003ERhincodon typus\u003C\/em\u003E), the world\u2019s largest fish species. The study, led by Dr. Alistair Dove, director of Research \u0026amp; Conservation at Georgia Aquarium and an adjunct professor at Georgia Tech, found that the major difference between healthy and unhealthy sharks was the concentration of homarine in their in serum\u2014indicating that homarine is a useful biomarker of health status for the species.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe paper, \u201cBiomarkers of whale shark health: a metabolomic approach\u201d, which is\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0049379\u0022\u003Epublished\u003C\/a\u003E in the journal PLOS ONE, is especially significant to the veterinary science community because the study documents the results of a rare opportunity to collect and analyze blood from whale sharks. The paper also comprises the only work yet carried out on biochemistry of the world\u2019s largest fish.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis research and its resulting findings are vitally important to ensuring Georgia Aquarium\u2019s and the scientific community\u2019s care, knowledge, and understanding of not only whale sharks, but similar species of sharks and rays,\u201d said Dr. Greg Bossart, Senior Vice President of Animal Health, Research \u0026amp; Conservation and Chief Veterinary Officer at Georgia Aquarium. \u201cThe publishing of this clinical research provides a greater opportunity for scientists and Zoological professionals to understand the Animals in our care and can be used to help wild populations, which puts us ahead of the curve in the integrated understanding of animal biology.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPrevious research and observations showed that traditional veterinary blood chemistry tests were not as useful with whale sharks; most likely because such tests are designed for mammals and comparatively less is known about shark and ray blood. Dr. Dove and six colleagues from Georgia Tech set out to significantly increase knowledge of whale shark biochemistry by examining the metabolite composition of all six whale sharks which have been cared for at Georgia Aquarium. By using metabolomics, the researchers were able to determine which chemical compounds were present in the shark blood, without knowing ahead of time what they are.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt is vitally important for us to continue to learn how to best support the whale sharks in our care,\u201d said Dove, who, along with the GA Tech team, spent three years developing the research. \u201cWe began the study by asking ourselves, \u2018What should we be looking for in whale shark serum?\u2019 and \u2018What compounds in serum might best indicate the health status of whale sharks?\u2019\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENot only did the study determine that metabolic profiles of unhealthy whale sharks were markedly different than those of healthy sharks in general and particularly the different levels of homarine, but the research team also identified more than 25 other compounds that differed in concentration based on the health of the individual.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFindings detailed in \u201cBiomarkers of whale shark health: a metabolomic approach\u201d will help scientists and veterinarians to better understand the biology of whale sharks in their natural setting, and by homology, the biology of other shark and ray species that may be similar. Further, data compiled in the research will provide a reference library about whale shark biochemistry that can be consulted in future studies and importantly, adds new knowledge that will be useful to those who care for sharks and rays on a daily basis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u201cThis sort of advanced research is only made possible through collaboration between aquarium scientists and experts at our partner universities,\u201d said Dr. Dove.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research team included, from Georgia Tech: Dr. Johannes Leisen, research scientist; Dr. Manshi Zhou, post-doctoral candidate; Dr. Jonathan Byrne, post-doctoral candidate; Krista Lim-Hing, student; Dr. Leslie Gelbaum, Dr. Mark Viant, Dr. Julia Kubanek, and Dr. Facundo Fernandez; and from Georgia Aquarium: Harry D. Webb, research technician. Additional support also came from Georgia Tech\u2019s National Science Foundation (NSF) undergraduate research program in mathematical biology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EWritten by Stephanie Johnson, senior public relations specialist at Georgia Aquarium.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"New Research Analyzes Biochemistry of World\u2019s Largest Fish"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENew research from Georgia Aquarium and Georgia Institute of Technology provides evidence that a suite of techniques called \u201cmetabolomics\u201d can be used to determine the health status of whale sharks (\u003Cem\u003ERhincodon typus\u003C\/em\u003E), the world\u2019s largest fish species. The study, led by Dr. Alistair Dove, director of Research \u0026amp; Conservation at Georgia Aquarium and an adjunct professor at Georgia Tech, found that the major difference between healthy and unhealthy sharks was the concentration of homarine in their in serum\u2014indicating that homarine is a useful biomarker of health status for the species.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New research from Georgia Aquarium and Georgia Institute of Technology provides evidence that a suite of techniques called \u201cmetabolomics\u201d can be used to determine the health status of whale sharks, the world\u2019s largest fish species."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2012-11-19 16:08:44","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:14","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-11-19T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-11-19T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"171621":{"id":"171621","type":"image","title":"Whale Shark 1","body":null,"created":"1449178999","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:43:19","changed":"1475894811","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:51","alt":"Whale Shark 1","file":{"fid":"195733","name":"whaleshark1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/whaleshark1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/whaleshark1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":57958,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/whaleshark1_0.jpg?itok=jNyLI8Pb"}},"171631":{"id":"171631","type":"image","title":"Whale Shark 2","body":null,"created":"1449178999","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:43:19","changed":"1475894811","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:51","alt":"Whale Shark 2","file":{"fid":"195734","name":"whale_shark_underwater.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/whale_shark_underwater_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/whale_shark_underwater_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3346442,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/whale_shark_underwater_0.jpg?itok=cr5bD9Cp"}},"172091":{"id":"172091","type":"image","title":"Alistair Dove","body":null,"created":"1449178999","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:43:19","changed":"1475894811","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:51","alt":"Alistair Dove","file":{"fid":"195747","name":"adove1_newblue.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/adove1_newblue_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/adove1_newblue_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":364502,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/adove1_newblue_0.jpg?itok=dGFAqDkf"}}},"media_ids":["171621","171631","172091"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/","title":"College of Sciences"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.biology.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Biology"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.georgiaaquarium.org\/","title":"Georgia Aquarium"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"12942","name":"georgia aquarium"},{"id":"50821","name":"Whale Sharks"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003EMedia Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-2966\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}