WOODS HOLE, Mass. -- In a provocative new study, scientists challenge a fundamental tenet in neuroscience about the shape of axons -- the long, thin filaments radiating from nerve cells that transmit electrical signals from cell to cell  – and propose a new model for understanding how information is transmitted in the brain. The study, led by Shigeki Watanabe of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, was partly conducted in the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) Neurobiology course and appears this week in Nature Neuroscience. For more than 70 years, scientists have depicted axons as ultrathin ..read more

This article on therapeutic applications of RNA editing quotes MBL Senior Scientist Joshua Rosenthal, co-founder of a biotechnology company, Korro Bio, working in this field. Monica Coenraads admits that as a first-time parent who hadn’t spent much time around children, she was slow to notice that something was wrong with her daughter, Chelsea. By the time Chelsea was 1 year old, however, her development had obviously stalled and even begun to reverse. She only learned to speak one word and soon stopped saying anything. Chelsea could only walk if someone held her upright. She lost the ability ..read more

John Hopfield of Princeton University, former faculty in the MBL's Methods in Computational Neuroscience course, and Geoffrey Hinton of University of Toronto have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics "for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced today. "When we talk about artificial intelligence (AI), we often mean machine learning using artificial neural networks (ANNs). This year’s laureates have conducted important work with ANNs from the 1980s onward," the Academy stated. Inspir ..read more

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In this NPR segment, MBL's Josh Rosenthal explains how the squid's robust RNA editing mechanisms are illuminating potential human medical applications, such as for chronic pain relief. His segment with reporter Karen Brown of New England Public Radio begins about 27:00. How does nature make durable materials like corals without heat or a kiln? How do peacock feathers get their beautiful colors? And how do geckos stick to all kinds of surfaces, allowing them to run up walls and trees? Researchers are looking to understand these processes in order to emulate them and apply them to human design a ..read more

Dakota McCoy opened her lab at the University of Chicago and the Marine Biological Laboratory in September 2024. A heart-shaped mollusc has evolved tiny windows that work like fibre-optic cables, the first known example in nature. Heart cockles (Corculum cardissa) are bivalve molluscs a bit like clams that have a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic algae that live inside them. The algae have a safe home, get light to photosynthesise and provide nutrients for their hosts. Unlike other bivalves, heart cockles don’t open their shells up wide, yet they somehow funnel light to their interior ..read more

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ROCKPORT — The exhibit "Plankton in Our Midst: The Unseen Citizens of the Sea and Our Breathing Planet" will be on display at the Rockport Public Library, Rockport, Maine, Nov. 2-30, 2024. The work of local artists Krisanne Baker and Julie Crane, and conservation writer Liz Cunningham, converge to create an engaging offering of glass installations, paintings and sculptures which amplify the intricate beauty of plankton and its elemental importance to all life on our planet. The creators of the exhibit worked in close tandem with scientists from the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences  ..read more

A spotlight on biotech companies focused on translating RNA editing to medical therapies. Thorsten Stafforst remembers being told to stop wasting his time. It was early last decade and scientists across the world were buzzing over a new tool, called CRISPR, that could precisely alter human DNA. Working in the German college town of Tubingen, Stafforst and fellow researchers at the local university were instead engrossed by the prospect of rewriting RNA, DNA’s chemical cousin. “Everybody told me, ‘Why do you want to edit RNA?’” Stafforst said. “You can edit DNA now; that doesn’t make sense.” Ye ..read more

Every month, research from MBL scientists and affiliates is published in academic journals across the globe. In October 2024, 14 new studies were published. MBL-affiliated authors are in bold. Our list of recent publications is updated weekly here. October 2024 Allard, C. A. H., Herbert, A. L., Krueger, S. P., Liang, Q., Walsh, B. L., Rhyne, A. L., Gourlay, A. N., Seminara, A., Baldwin, M. W., Kingsley, D. M., & Bellono, N. W. (2024). Evolution of novel sensory organs in fish with legs. Current Biology. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.08.014  Attah, A. T., Negrón-Moreno, P. N., Amigo-Dur ..read more