Marine Biological Laboratory

Join us for a celebration of the world-class ocean science happening in Woods Hole!

This family-friendly event features hands-on activities and opportunities to learn about Woods Hole’s science institutions, the U.S. Coast Guard, and local non-profits.
woodsholesciencestroll.org

Whitman Fellow Designs Genomic Tools to Study Horseshoe Crab Eye Development | Marine Biological Laboratory They may be famous for their striking blue blood, but horseshoe crabs have an award-winning vision system.   In the 1930s, Haldan Keffer Hartline produced the first single-cell recording of a photorec...

Despite their history as model organisms, scientists understand little about horseshoe crabs at the molecular level, and “pretty much nothing" about how their eyes develop, said Gui Gainett, a Whitman Fellow at the MBL.

📷 Dee Sullivan
Read the story: bit.ly/3TS20Me

Looking forward to it!

The deadline to register for MBL's fall course, Light Microscopy Bootcamp, has been extended to August 15!🔬

The course is engineered to empower graduate students to use light microscopy in their own research.

Read about the course and register: www.mbl.edu/news/focus-m...

Take Five with Phil Sharp, Star of "Cracking the Code" | Marine Biological Laboratory "Take Five" is an occasional feature in which we pose five questions to a scientist about their career, dreams, and passions. Here we profile Phillip A. Sharp,  Institute Professor and Professor of Bi...

If you're in Woods Hole this Thursday, join us and Phil Sharp himself for the screening of "Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution."

For a sneak preview, check out this interview with Sharp!

Stay tuned for Alumni August!

Throughout the month, look out for opportunities to engage with former classmates, course directors, and other MBL Alumni.

Post your favorite memories with #MyMBLMoment to enter a giveaway that will be randomly drawn at the end of the month!

📷 Dee Sullivan

MBL Announces Largest Ever Gift for Its Renowned Biological Education and Research Programs | Marine Biological Laboratory Cell Biology Researcher Mark Terasaki’s $25 Million Unrestricted Gift Will Support Operations and Infrastructure Contact: Samantha Cummis scummis@mbl.edu; 973.800.4119

We're thrilled to announce the largest private gift in our 137-year history: a $25 million unrestricted donation from MBL Whitman Scientist Mark Terasaki.

His extraordinary generosity will bolster our renowned research and education programs. 🔬

Learn more: bit.ly/452WL1m

Focus In: MBL Expands Training in Advanced Microscopy | Marine Biological Laboratory

Registration for MBL's fall course, Light Microscopy Bootcamp, closes on July 31!🔬

The course is engineered to empower graduate students to use light microscopy in their own research.

Read about the course and register: www.mbl.edu/news/focus-m...

Can't wait to have you back!

Things are getting busy at Microbial DIversity. Lab on the first day (left) and lab yesterday! @mblscience.bsky.social

John Philip Trinkaus, a student in the 1939 Embryology course, left us with his drawings of 'presumptive regions' in Trout, Fundulus, Dog fish, and Urodele; development of circulatory system of Teleost; and a squid spermatophore.

bit.ly/4eZWxfU

Wonder in basic research changes human lives ✨

This is a small piece I did for @mblscience.bsky.social physiology course wonder project to show how wonder can change lives. I have never done any artwork like this, so I’m super proud of it

#basicscience #science #sciart #art

Comb Jellies Uniquely Evolved  to Sense Their World  | Marine Biological Laboratory In 2023, the ctenophore made a splash, surprising researchers at the MBL with its bizarre biology.    Ctenophores, also known as comb jellies, are gelatinous invertebrates that beat their iridescent c...

Scientists don’t know much about the ctenophore nervous system, but “the more we investigate, the weirder it gets,” Arenas Sabogal said. 

Sabogal peers into the animal's puzzling physiology to determine how the nervous system transforms sensations into behavior.

Read the full story: bit.ly/4nRoD14

In Fire-Stricken California, Beavers Hold the Line | Marine Biological Laboratory What do beavers have to do with wildfires? Jessie Moravek knows. Ten years ago, Jessie Moravek came to the Marine Biological Laboratory as a student in the undergraduate Semester in Environmental Scie...

Ten years ago, Jessie Moravek came to the MBL for Semester in Environmental Science. This spring, she returned to speak at the Ecosystems Center’s 50th Anniversary Symposium. On both occasions, Moravek focused on beavers. 🦫

Read the full story here: bit.ly/3GCRtBA

Gemma Gains New Environmental Sensor | Marine Biological Laboratory

Gemma's got new tech! ⚓

MBL’s research vessel collects squid and other species that MBL scientists use to study development, neurobiology, and more. Seasonal variability has spiked, and new tech might help us figure out why🦑

Read the full story here: bit.ly/44MrteS

Last weekend, the Neurobiology Class of 2000 returned to campus for their 25th reunion! We are always happy to see the return of MBL Alumni. Share your story with #MyMBLMoment

Do Light and Darkness Shape the Patterns on Shells? A Grass Fellow Investigates | Marine Biological Laboratory Kyra Schapiro knows how to find a good shell. A self-professed sheller – “ Yes, it’s a noun,” she said – Schapiro has amassed hundreds of seashells. “It’s the patterns and the beauty” that compels her...

Zebra nerite snails have diagonal stripes painted across their shells. But sometimes, a dramatic change will pause and switch their shell pattern to something new. 🐌 Kyra Schapiro investigates how these shell patterns emerge in the Grass Lab.

Learn more: bit.ly/4llySJ7

New Cell Structures Discovered in Squid Skin Lead to Bioengineering of Tunable, Multispectral Materials | Marine Biological Laboratory An exciting study in Science this week extends what we thought we knew about structural color in nature — from the constant, brilliant blue of Morpho butterfly wings to the ultrafast, dynamic camoufla...

By examining squid skin cells three-dimensionally, researchers, including MBL's Roger Hanlon, have unveiled the nanostructures that allow these animals to dynamically change their appearance from transparent to a dazzling array of colored states.

Learn more! www.mbl.edu/news/new-cel...

Thank you @thembauk.bsky.social for your support! So excited for my upcoming Visual Neuroscience course @mblscience.bsky.social, tune in on Aug 1st for some vision and some cephalopods! 👀 🐙 @schaferlab.bsky.social

Day 1 at the Microbial Diversity course. Lectures in the am by Mitch Sogin, Scott Dawson and John Spear. In the lab this afternoon to learn the scope and a field trip to nearby School Street Marsh! @mblscience.bsky.social

Last night at Microbial Diversity, we all went out for a MD tradition- the Volta experiment! A dirty but happy crew!
@mblscience.bsky.social

MBL Event | Penikese Isle School Penikese Island, a 75-acre uninhabited bird sanctuary, serves as an extraordinary living classroom where students learn through direct observation, collective discovery, and shared exploration. Our mi...

This year, the Penikese Island School is celebrating 150 years of botanical surveys!

If you're in Woods Hole on Wednesday, July 16th, join us in the MBL Meigs Room in Swope for free food, drinks, plants, and history!🌿

Learn more: bit.ly/4eqYDVM

Stowers Postdoc Shares Insights from MBL’s Embryology Course | Stowers Institute | Marine Biological Laboratory Q&A with Ekasit Sonpho, Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Sánchez Alvarado Lab

If you cut a Planaria worm into a bunch of tiny pieces, each one will grow a whole new worm!🪱

Here at the MBL, the Sánchez Alvarado Lab investigates these freshwater flatworms (Schmidtea mediterranea) to study regeneration and tissue maintenance.

Learn more about the lab: bit.ly/44tv5nb

Whether you came to the MBL last year or 40 years ago — your story matters. We’re launching the MBL Alumni Association and want to hear from you!

Enjoy these photos from our recent launch and ice cream social, and share a photo, a memory, or a moment with the hashtag #MyMBLStory!

We had a last minute cancellation for STAMPS -- a phenomenal course on microbiome data analysis. Woods Hole, MA, July 14-24 2025.

If you or *anyone* you know is interested to attend, please email Titus &/or me... and we'll do what we can!!!

Thx for sharing widely! 🤞❤️

A flyer for one of the events in the 2025 Friday Evening Lectures series from the Marine Biological Laboratory. It features event details as well as a headshot of the speaker, Phil Newmark.

Join us tonight for a Friday Evening Lecture from Phil Newmark, Burnell R. Roberts Chair in Regenerative Biology at the Morgridge Institute for Research.

Come by Clapp Auditorium in the Lillie Building at 8 p.m. or register to view the lecture online at mbl.edu/fel 🖥️

Newsletter | Marine Biological Laboratory The Collecting Net is MBL's bi-weekly newsletter that offers the latest catch of MBL research and education news, events, and more.

Subscribe to the Collecting Net, the MBL's biweekly newsletter, to stay up to date on the latest research, education highlights, and more news from the Marine Biological Laboratory🎣

Browse archived newsletters and sign up here: bit.ly/3PTnJ4o

MBL scientists use skates and their embryos to study skeletal development. By shining a light through egg cases, scientists can watch the entire maturation process.

Learn more about skates as a research organism here: bit.ly/3Rmvq3F

📹 Bioquest

Focus In: MBL Expands Training in Advanced Microscopy | Marine Biological Laboratory

This fall, MBL will be hosting a newly public course: Light Microscopy Bootcamp. The course will complement the MBL’s existing imaging courses by focusing on practical applications of microscopy, from sample creation to data analysis. Register to learn microscopy for your research!

bit.ly/4e5QA0y

Here at the MBL, we study Longfin or "Woods Hole" squids for their giant axons. Students in the Physiology course learned how to find the neuron, which they will study to learn more about nerve impulse transmissions 🦑

📷 @mollyherring.bsky.social