Unlocking the Secrets of Shark Skin: The Next Medical Miracle?
Sharks exhibit a remarkable ability to heal from wounds sustained in the wild, displaying an apparent resilience that differentiates them from other fish. Although this…
Marine Biological Laboratory News
Wonderfully Weird Creatures: Squid and Octopus Genomes Reveal How Cephalopods’ Unique Traits Evolved
Squid, octopus, and cuttlefish – even to scientists who study them – are wonderfully weird creatures. Known as the soft-bodied or coleoid cephalopods, they have…
New DNA Modification System Discovered in Animals – Captured From Bacteria More Than 60 Million Years Ago
Your DNA holds the blueprint to build your body, but it’s a living document: Adjustments to the design can be made by epigenetic marks. Epigenetic…
Scientists Succeed in Culturing the Pygmy Zebra Octopus – The Size of a Grain of Rice When They Hatch
For generations, scientists have relied on a handful of organisms to study the fundamentals of biology. The usual suspects—fruit flies, zebrafish, and mice, among others—all…
Unlike Humans, Cuttlefish Retain Sharp Memory of Specific Events in Old Age
Cuttlefish can remember what, where, and when specific events happened – right up to their last few days of life, researchers have found. The results,…
Ingenious Ocean Microbes Team Up Brilliantly To Gather Food When It’s Scarce
What’s a hungry marine microbe to do when the pickings are slim? It must capture nutrients – nitrogen, phosphorus, or iron – to survive, yet…
Scientists See the Invisible: How Butterflies Make Transparent Wings
Many animals have evolved camouflage tactics for self-defense, but some butterflies and moths have taken it even further: They’ve developed transparent wings, making them almost…
Delayed Gratification: Quick-Learning Cuttlefish Pass “The Marshmallow Test”
Much like the popular TikTok challenge where kids resist eating snacks, cuttlefish can do the same! Cuttlefish can delay gratification — wait for a better…
How the Insect Got Its Wings: Solving a Mystery That Has Puzzled Biologists for Over a Century
It sounds like a “Just So Story” — “How the Insect Got its Wings” — but it’s really a mystery that has puzzled biologists for…
“Suction Thrust” – Many-Limbed Marine Organisms Don’t Actually Push Themselves Forward to Swim
When you think of swimming, you probably imagine pushing through the water—creating backwards thrust that pushes you forward. New research at the Marine Biological Laboratory…
The Invisible Squid – First Gene Knockout in a Cephalopod Achieved
Breakthrough in gene editing should allow scientists to answer key questions in biology. A team at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) has achieved the first…
“Deep Biosphere” Microbes: Life Is Bubbling Up From Sediments Deep Below the Ocean Floor
The COVID-19 pandemic is a stark reminder that we move through a world shaped by unseen life. Bacteria, viruses, and other microscopic organisms regulate the…
“Superpower” Discovered in Squids: They Can Massively Edit Their Own Genetics
Revealing yet another super-power in the skillful squid, scientists have discovered that squid massively edits their own genetic instructions not only within the nucleus of…
Revealed: The Mysterious, Legendary Giant Squid’s Genome
How did the monstrous giant squid – reaching school-bus size, with eyes as big as dinner plates and tentacles that can snatch prey 10 yards…
Revealing the Structure of Bacterial Hitchhikers on Plastic Trash in the Ocean
Millions of tons of plastic trash are fouling the world’s oceans, most of them tiny pieces of microplastic less than a quarter-inch in size. Even…
Study Reveals How Hurricanes Affect Deep-Sea Ecosystems, Carbon Cycle
Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) study reveals the effects of Hurricane Nicole on deep-sea ecosystems and the carbon cycle. In early October 2016, a tropical storm…
Network of Imaging Centers Proposed to Drive Innovation in Biological Research
When sparks fly to innovate new technologies for imaging life at the microscopic scale, often diverse researchers are nudging each other with a kind of…
Marine Bacteria Are Not Homogenous Populations in the Ocean
New research from scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory shows that marine bacteria are not just homogenous populations in the ocean and that different bacteria…