The Ambystoma mexicanum or “Mexican salamander” is a superhero of regeneration and can functionally regenerate multiple body parts without forming scar tissue. In the MBL’s Echeverri Lab, scientists studying these animals hope to decipher how the cells in these animals respond to injury in the spinal cord, limbs, and skin at the cellular and molecular
For nearly 20 years, researchers have gathered together at the MBL to study the acorn worm. Saccoglossus kowalevskii is a hemichordate and often considered an evolutionary link between the vertebrate and invertebrate lineages. By studying the acorn worm, researchers at the MBL have revealed multiple conserved genetic pathways that regulate vertebrate brain development, illuminating the
Deuterostomia may not sound familiar, but it should: you are a deuterostome! Most deuterostomes belong to one of two groups that include most of its members—echinoderms, which includes animals such as the spiny-skinned starfish, sea urchins, and their relatives, and chordates, which include fish and other vertebrates (including humans). The name deuterostome means “mouth second,”