
Marine Biological Laboratory
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The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is an international center for research and education in biology and ecology and an affiliate of the University of Chicago. MBL provides information on Marine Biology. Follow our news feed to keep up with new updates.
Marine Biological Laboratory
9h ago
Just as the human body serves as a habitat for bacteria and other microbes, diverse, tiny organisms known as protists host their own microbiomes.
In new research published this week, a team led by Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) scientists reveals that symbiotic bacteria often accompany single-celled protists in the ocean’s upper layer. Some of these symbionts, they discovered, are close relatives of bacteria pathogenic to animals, including humans.
“We know there are many symbionts in the world, but it was surprising to find that smallest, and most common predatory protists in the oce ..read more
Marine Biological Laboratory
9h ago
Every month, research from MBL scientists and affiliates is published in academic journals across the globe. In January 2025, 10 new studies were published. MBL-affiliated authors are in bold.
Our list of recent publications is updated weekly here.
Zhao, Y., Zhou, R., Xie, B., Liu, C., Kalski, M., Cham, C., Jiang, Z., Koval, J., Weber, C., Rubin, D., Sogin, M., Crosson, S., Chen, M., Huang, J., Fiebig, A., Dalal, S., Chang, E., Basu, A., & Pott, S. (2025). Multiomic analysis reveals cellular, transcriptomic and epigenetic changes in intestinal pouches of ulcerative colitis patien ..read more
Marine Biological Laboratory
6d ago
This article profiles several distinguished Black scientists, two of whom were affiliated with the MBL: Ernest Everett Just and Jewel Plummer Cobb.
This Black History Month, we’re recognizing Black scientists’ contributions to developmental biology, disease research, plasma storage and imaging techniques. For more information about the following scientists, explore the resource list below.
Ernest Everett Just: offering insights into embryology (1883–1941)
Ernest Everett Just was an experimental embryologist, who conducted simple – yet elegant – experiments on marine invertebrates to demo ..read more
Marine Biological Laboratory
1w ago
In the first half of a two-part article, historian of science Kathryn Maxson Jones describes the impact of squid giant axons on the history of neuroscience. Maxson Jones conducted part of her research at the MBL for her upcoming book, "Sea Change: The Squid Giant Axon and the Transformation of Neurobiology in the 20th Century," in which she explores "the intertwined histories of aquatic organisms, seaside laboratories like Plymouth [and the MBL], and biophysical and biochemical studies of the fundamental properties of nervous systems."
In September 1935, David Keynes Hill FRS (1915–2002), son ..read more
Marine Biological Laboratory
1w ago
Collecting organisms for research has been essential to the Marine Biological Laboratory’s (MBL) mission since 1888, the year of its founding. At first, the MBL borrowed boats and collecting nets from the U.S. Fish Commission in Woods Hole, since it didn’t own any waterfront property yet, much less a boat!
The MBL made do with small dories for marine collecting until 1890, when the 35-foot Sagitta was purchased, allowing for longer expeditions. At that point, Captain John J. Veeder was hired to take charge of the collecting trips, serving admirably until he retired in 1933.
Veeder "directed al ..read more
Marine Biological Laboratory
1w ago
Marine Biological Laboratory
2w ago
Marine Biological Laboratory
2w ago
Marine Biological Laboratory
2w ago
The sand and rubble around South Florida’s Blue Heron Bridge is legendary for its diverse congregations of marine life, from seahorses and stargazers to pike blennies and octopuses. For Dr. Chelsea Bennice, it’s the octopuses that have kept her coming back to the site for more than a decade. As a research fellow at the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Marine Science Laboratory, she specializes in octopus research, and among the dive community at the bridge, she’s known as “Octo-Girl.”
Bennice got her open-water certification while teaching marine science at Seacamp on Big Pine Key, shortly af ..read more
Marine Biological Laboratory
2w ago
Dark matter and dark energy are concepts we have all heard about in our evolving understanding of the universe. But what about dark oxygen? This new concept is oxygen that somehow can be found without sunlight, challenging our understanding of how oxygen is produced.
Dr Emil Ruff, scientist at the Ecosystems Center, part of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, joined Philip Clark on Nightlife to discuss how it could provide big clues as to the evolution life on Earth, possibly elsewhere in the universe. Listen to the segment here.
Source: Dark Oxygen ..read more