Understanding the principle of how the Earth could become a rare planet of diverse living forms has been one of the biggest and fundamental subjects of Liberal Arts, as crystals of intellectual curiosity for human beings. I believe what we solve this basic principle is one of the most important scientific and social missions for JAMSTEC, which is a Center Of Excellence in ocean and earth sciences in the world, and is not less than socially and industrially relevant research activities tied with monetary values. JAMSTEC has established its identity and renown as one of the world's best research institution with development and operation of crowning exploration vessels and vehicles, platforms and multiple technology, and has the greatest potential to explore the yet-unknown diversity of life in the hidden biosphere in the deep and dark world of the Earth and the limits and boundaries of life and biosphere in this planet. Thus, the primary mission of our D-SUGAR is to explore the yet-unknown ecosystems and biospheres in the deep-sea and deep subseafloor environments, to clarify the limits and boundaries of life and biosphere in this planet, and to solve the physical-chemical-biological interactions in such unexplored ecosystems and biospheres. We, D-SUGAR, are multidisciplinary research department that consists of a variety of scientific backgrounds and scientists, and are going to make technological innovations for better understanding and exploration of the hidden world in situ. In addition, we have established the world's best techniques and endeavors to culture and investigate living extremophilic microorganisms and chemosynthetic macrofaunas in our laboratories under the simulated in situ environmental conditions. So, we will deeply pursue their unidentified and unique biogeochemical, physiological and molecular characteristics in our laboratory experiments. These investigations provide significant clues to elucidating not only interactions between the present Earth and a diversity of life but also the co-evolution of Earth and life for about 4 billion years. It is one of the ultimate research missions in JAMSTEC manifestly declared in the JAMSTEC vision.

Ken Takai
Director, Super-cutting-edge Grand and Advanced Research (SUGAR) Program