Not everyone has a genus (nevermind a species) named after them! But this study by a team of Czech and Slovak scientists introduces the bacteria Gibliniella, named “in honor of Anne E. Giblin, a well–known North American ecologist who stud[ies] anthropogenic inputs to ecosystems.” Giblin, director of the MBL Ecosystems Center, has worked for decades
By Rebecca Pool Using novel epifluorescence imaging developed at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), Woods Hole, researchers have unravelled the structure of the microbial communities that coat microplastic trash in the world’s oceans. To study the ‘Platisphere’ – microscopic communities on plastic marine debris – Linda Amaral-Zettler from MBL and the Royal Netherlands Institute for
By Ege Yalcindag, ’21 I covered my eyes with my hands, at first too afraid to look. “That is so gorgeous,” I heard Jessica Mark Welch say. Mark Welch is a microbiologist who uses fluorescent probes to generate images of bacteria, such as those on our teeth. These images help her investigate the structure and composition
The sun is setting on the MBL’s 32nd season of Arctic research at Toolik Field Station in Alaska. Catch the last rays on the tundra before winter darkness sets in with these beautiful time-lapse GIFs created at Toolik, home of the NSF’s Arctic Long-Term Ecological Research program, led by MBL scientists since its founding. Toolik
Note: The path-breaking Physiology Course is one of several research training programs in quantitative biology offered at the Marine Biological Laboratory. Others include Physical Biology of the Cell and University of Chicago’s QBio Bootcamp @MBL. MBL also offers courses in quantitative microscopy, including Analytical and Quantitative Light Microscopy, Optical Microscopy and Imaging in the Biomedical
np_core_post_headers_video The Marine Biological Laboratory is “one of the few places where you can see octopuses hatching from the egg,” as shown in this clip from “Octopus: Making Contact,” a Nature/PBS documentary that premiered on Oct. 2. Bret Grasse, MBL’s manager of cephalopod operations, appears earlier in the episode, along with some of the more
By Diana Kenney
A “triple whammy” of factors intensifies ocean acidification in S.E. Massachusetts, the commission heard, endangering the region’s important shellfishing and aquaculture industries.
By Stephan Benzkofer Fifty years ago, scientists at the University of Chicago sought to break through traditional academic barriers to revolutionize the field of biology. They created the Committee on Evolutionary Biology, which has been a driving force behind impactful scientific inquiry at the University of Chicago ever since. To this day, its deeply interconnected graduate
The month’s sharpest science shots, selected by Nature’s photo team. By Emma Stoye Octopus embryo. This microscope image of a California two-spot octopus (Octopus bimaculoides) embryo was one of the top 20 images in Nikon’s Small World photomicrography contest. It was entered by biologists Martyna Lukoseviciute of the University of Oxford, UK, and Carrie Albertin
Note: Mitchell Sogin, MBL Distinguished Senior Scientist, co-chairs the Deep Life Community in the Deep Carbon Observatory. By Kasia Kornecki These days, most researchers know very well that in order to get funding, it’s helpful to already have funding. The solemn reality of the grant cycle is that solid preliminary results and immediate applications are