News & Announcements

On September 2–5, 2025, the NSCMB FEB RAS together with the FEB RAS, the Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity (FSCEATB) FEB RAS, the Far Eastern Federal University, and the Vladivostok Public Foundation for the Development of Genetics (VFDG) held the traditional (already 12th) international symposium entitled “Modern achievements in population, evolutionary and ecological genetics, MAPEEG-2025”.

The Program Organizing Committee of the Symposium consisted of such well-known representatives of the Far Eastern science as Yu.Ph. Kartavtsev (Scientific Head of the Laboratory Molecular of Systematics NSCMB FEB RAS, Prof., Dr. Sci. Biol.), E.I. Bondar (Scientific Head of the Laboratory of Genetics NSCMB FEB RAS, Cand. Sci. Biol.), D.M. Atopkin, and I.N. Sheremetieva (specialists from the FSCEATB FEB RAS).

The symposium brought together about 50 participants who attended it personally. A total of 107 participants (including co-authors) were registered at the event, 34 reports were delivered, and 20 poster papers presented. The scope of the reports and posters covered a wide range of research areas including molecular systematics, evolutionary genetics and genomics, phylogenetics, population and environmental genetics of animals and plants.

The symposium was also joined by 23 foreign participants from China, India, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan. The authors from Russia represented such cities as Vladivostok, Novosibirsk, Moscow, Irkutsk, Saint-Petersburg, Yakutsk, Yekaterinburg, Birobidzhan, Arkhangelsk, Magadan, Tomsk, Chita, Sevastopol, and Rostov-on-Don.

Thanks to its unique 30-year history of holding meetings in English, with dozens of young scientists and specialists from the RAS and universities of Russia and many foreign countries involved, this event has become an important achievement in the scientific, educational, and public awareness activities of the Center, which is of great importance not only for the Far East but also for all Russian science in general (https://wwwimb.dvo.ru/misc/mapeeg/index.php/en/).

The Organizing Committee is grateful to all guests and partners and looks forward to further cooperation!

Tubeworms and molluscs that get their energy from chemical reactions have been discovered at the bottom of trenches up to 9,533 metres deep in the northwest Pacific Ocean. The findings, reported in Nature, shed new light on the potential for life to exist in extreme environments.

Organisms that live in extreme environments need to adapt to produce energy in different ways. Chemosynthesis-based communities derive their energy from chemical reactions rather than from photosynthesis, which requires sunlight. Such communities can be found in deep sea habitats where chemicals such as hydrogen sulfide and methane seep from the sea floor. Hadal trenches are some of the deepest parts of the ocean but are also largely unexplored.

Xiaotong Peng, Mengran Du, Vladimir Mordukhovich and colleagues report the discovery of flourishing chemosynthetic life deep in hadal trenches, found during an expedition in a human-occupied submersible vehicle. The mission covered more than 2,500 kilometres along the Kuril–Kamchatka and Aleutian Trenches in the northwest Pacific, at depths ranging from 5,800 to 9,533 metres. The communities are dominated by marine tubeworms called siboglinid polychaetes and molluscs called bivalves, which synthesize their energy using hydrogen sulfide and methane seeping out of faults in the tectonic plate. Further analysis suggests that the methane seeping out of the cracks is made by microbial processes in organic matter found in sediments.

The authors suggest that such communities may be more widespread than previously thought, and their findings challenge views about how hadal ecosystems might be supported.

©Nature -  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09317-z

More data about Chinese-Russian expedition: https://www.imb.dvo.ru/index.php/en/news-announcements/2068-the-chinese-russian-expedition-to-study-deep-sea-trench-ecosystems-in-the-northwestern-pacific-ocean-has-ended

A.V. Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center of Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (NSCMB FEB RAS) is a scientific, environmental, and educational organization.  The main activities of the NSCMB FEB RAS are as follows: Study of the fauna and flora, ecology, and productivity of marine life in the Far Eastern seas and adjacent areas of the Pacific Ocean; Deep-sea exploration of the world’s Oceans; Development of scientific foundations for the conservation, reproduction, and rational use of marine biological resources; Development of scientific foundations and technologies to ensure the biological safety of marine waters and marine products; Research on adaptation, ontogenesis, and evolution of marine organisms; Research in the fields of molecular genetics, biochemistry, and biotechnology of marine organisms; Biomedical research, including marine pharmacology and hyperbaric medicine; Development of scientific foundations and modern technologies for keeping and breeding rare and endangered species of marine organisms; Research in the fields of physiology, neurophysiology, and higher nervous activity of marine mammals; studies of marine animal behavior; Development of technologies for early diagnosis and treatment of diseases of marine animals.

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On July 8, a Russian-Chinese seminar on marine ecology was held at the A.V. Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center of Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (NSCMB FEB RAS) as part of the Center's cooperation with Tsinghua University (PRC). A delegation from the Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School (SIGS Tsinghua) visited the NSCMB FEB RAS for the first time to discuss scientific and educational cooperation.

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On 28 May, 2025, the Institute of Oceanography (IO), Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), Nha Trang, hosted a conference entitled “VAST-FEB RAS joint marine expeditions: Roadmap 2018–2025: Scientific Achievements and Future Prospects”.

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A videoconference focused on Russian-Indian cooperation in marine research was held on April 29, 2025. The online meeting from the Indian side was attended by Mr. Siddarth Gaurav, Consul General at the Consulate General in Vladivostok, and Mr. Anand Kamavisdar, Consul for Science and Technology at the Embassy of India in Moscow. The NSCMB FEB RAS was represented by Dr. Konstantin Lutaenko, Deputy Director for International Relations, Dr. Vladimir Mordukhovich, Deputy Director for Science, and Mrs. Anastasiia Grishina, specialist of the International Cooperation Department.

During the meeting, the parties discussed possible areas of scientific cooperation and expressed mutual interest and confidence in the prospects fruitful cooperation. To date, two Memorandums of Understanding have been signed with the Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (Kolkata) and with CSIR - National Institute of Oceanography (Dona Paula, Goa). Both organizations have robust capabilities in marine biology, biodiversity, marine ecology, blue economy, ecosystem dynamics, microbiota, deep sea research and other related fields.

A.V. Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center of Marine Biology FEB RAS expresses its sincere gratitude to the Consulate General of the Republic of India in Vladivostok and the Embassy of India in Moscow for organizing the event and for their attention to our Center. In July of this year, the Consul for Science and Technology of the Embassy of India in Moscow, Mr. Anand Kamavisdar, is expected to visit Vladivostok and the NSCMB FEB RAS.

Russia and India share a long history of relations, but their potential remains far from exhausted, particularly in the fields of science and technology. With strong support from both governments, there are promising prospects for advancing scientific and technological cooperation to a new level.

On March 26, 2025, a delegation of the Consulate General of India, led by Mr. Siddarth Gawrav, Consul General, paid an official visit to the NSCMB FEB RAS. The delegation also included Mr. Yadav Sachin, a Counselor to the Consul General, and Ekaterina A. Volesova, an Assistant Consul General. The event was hosted by Dr. I.Yu. Dolmatov, a Corresponding Member of RAS, the Director, by Dr. K.A. Lutaenko, the Deputy Director for International Cooperation, by Dr. A.V. Boroda, a Deputy Director for Science, and by Mrs. A.I. Grishina, as a specialist of the International Cooperation Department.

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