Scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Falmouth, Massachusetts, USA, have identified sea stars (also known as starfish) as perfect candidates to investigate the processes behind organ development. Despite being extensively studied for over 70 years, the embryonic and larval development of this sea star hasn’t been clearly described until now.
Biologists have long puzzled over how organs develop into their final shapes, and the nearly transparent bodies of young sea stars may offer a unique window into the organ development process….full article:Sea Stars Offer a Window into How Organs Take Shape
On earth.com:
A new study has revealed that sea stars can build the same organ in remarkably different ways. Although three species all ended up with an identical internal structure, each followed its own developmental path to get there….full article:Sea stars reveal how simple tubes become complex organs
July 2025:In the news!
Margherita Perillo, a research scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), was awarded the 2024 Society for Developmental Biology Emerging Research Organism Grantfor her work on establishing the sea cucumber (Holothuria tubulosa), as an emerging model for developmental biology research. The award recognizes Perillo’s pioneering work in developing methods to generate and culture larvae in the laboratory; work she has done in collaboration with her colleagues at the MBL and at the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn in Naples, Italy…..full article: Establishing the Sea Cucumber as an Emerging Model | Society for Developmental Biology
May 2023: In the news!
The humble sea star is an ancient marine creature that possibly goes back about 480 million years. They are beloved in touch tanksin aquariums for their celestial shape, spongy skin, and arm suckers. These beautiful five-limbed echinoderms are also helping scientists figure out a crucial life process called tubulogenesis…..full article: The blueprints for early organs may be hiding in sea stars
