Known for a role in the post-transcriptional processing of RNA transcripts, the protein PcF11 now appears to play a role in activating stress-response pathways as well. The experiment, published this month in Genetics, was led by Tufts University researcher Claire Moore, Ph.D., with data-crunching assistance from Graber, two former core analysts, Christian Wilson and Nathaniel Maki, as well as former summer research fellow Peter Benson. “What’s really exciting about this is that it highlights an unknown role for this gene, and a role that emphasizes the interconnected nature of the differen ..read more

The Bio Lab’s Cory Johnson, Ph.D., is growing prototype kidneys called “organoids” in carefully tended racks inside a laboratory incubator. When he pulls out a batch that’s nestled in a petri dish, they look to the naked eye like a mass of tiny, transparent frog’s eggs. “An organoid is basically a lump of cells that are grown from stem cells in a dish that resemble an organ or a tissue of interest,” Johnson explains. “It’s not quite a full organ like you would get in the human body, but it’s very similar and shows characteristics such as cell types and some functions that you would see in a fu ..read more

The Node, a bioscience publication hosted by the journal Development recently highlighted work by Prayag Murawala, Joel Graber and James Godwin (all Ph.D.s). They are at the forefront of a new effort to create a scientific clearinghouse for information about axolotl, the Mexican salamander whose regenerative capacities are gaining recognition as a powerful resource for biomedical discovery. Joined by colleagues such as Harvard’s Jessica Whited, Ph.D., they are helping to create an open-access web platform to provide centralized access to datasets, transgenic lines, shared nomenclatures and oth ..read more

MDI Bio Lab is constructing new student housing to support our growing community. The Bio Lab leadership’s strategic vision for growing research and training capacity is showing some real-world results. You can see it at the site of the former 160 Old Bar Harbor Road building, where contractors are excavating the foundations of a new five bed, five bath student housing unit. And growth is evident as well in the roster of new staff positions filled this year – four just this month – and a flurry of promotions that reflect a realignment of responsibilities as the organization stretches to meet ..read more

BioImaging North America (BINA) is a leading organization dedicated to promoting excellence in biological imaging across North America. As a US non-profit network representing over 200 bioimaging facilities and communities in Canada, the USA and Mexico, BINA aims to support bioimaging scientists, share advanced technologies, further education and foster collaboration. The Light Microscopy Facility (LMF), led by Frederic Bonnet, PhD, not only enables cutting-edge imaging capabilities for Bio Lab researchers, but also educates and promotes best research practices for all its users. It boasts ..read more

As MDI Bio Lab’s Community Environmental Health Laboratory continues to expand the scope of the ‘’Healthy Water/Healthy Aging” citizen-engaged research project, it’s joining the Maine Seacoast Mission and Island Institute to extend the program’s outreach to Maine’s outer island communities. Morgan Karns, a recent graduate of Virginia Tech, was hired as an Island Fellow, and she is based at MDI Bio Lab’s campus in Bar Harbor. She will join the Seacoast Mission’s Sunbeam on trips to the islands, to learn, educate and solicit participation in the Healthy Water/Health Aging initiative. Karns says ..read more

Gabriela Johnson, a graduate student at MDI Bio Lab, recalls the first time she established a new tool for analyzing cell functions in an adult axolotl salamander, which is an emerging model for the study of regeneration. “Oh, my gosh, it’s working, it’s been confirmed,” she thought. “Overcoming that barrier, and seeing it work for the first time is just amazing. It’s a hard feeling to describe.” MDI Bio Lab’s leaders say that creating the conditions for young scientists to experience that kind of research success is an essential part of its mission. It’s one reason why the Bio Lab is working ..read more

My first experience at the MDI Biological Lab was as a lab assistant in the summer lab of Drs. Tom Maren and Eric Swensen in 1979 and 1980. We were studying the effects of inhibiting carbonic anhydrase, an enzyme that helps maintain homeostasis, on the regenerative capacity of salamanders. We wanted to see if the limbs of those treated with the drug known to inhibit carbonic anhydrase regenerated correctly, and they did. The work felt important to me, and Dr. Maren and his team’s efforts at the Lab ultimately resulted in a successful glaucoma drug. For the teenage me, the work inspired and he ..read more

Last week in Washington, D.C., Maine Senator Susan Collins accepted the 2023 Public Service Award of the Association of Independent Research Institutions (AIRI), recognizing her longstanding advocacy for research funding and her passion for combatting disease. “Senator Collins’ unwavering and tireless championship for biomedical research and evidence-based policymaking is advancing public health and scientific innovation across the country,” said AIRI president Jeri Bowers at a luncheon that drew hundreds of officials from premier independent research labs around the nation. Bowers is also Chi ..read more

For Seth Ashby, a rising junior studying microbiology at UMaine Orono, the”Maine Microscopy” course was a true eye opener.  “When I started out I thought I knew all about microscopes: you adjust the lens, you look through light. And you see,” Ashby says.“But what I didn’t realize, and almost every student I think would agree with this, is how little we actually knew about microscopy.” That knowledge gap was amply filled, he says, by the daily lectures and hands-on experience provided by a roster of faculty and others who work with the array of advanced imaging instruments and software in ..read more