• Question: starfish are very common for medical use, therefore how can research be used in a more beneficial way?

    Asked by jamarlieaster to Twisted-wing fly, Scottish Crossbill, Orkney vole, Common starfish, Baltic clam, Abyssal Grenadier on 23 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Common Starfish

      Common Starfish answered on 23 Nov 2017:


      Actually, there are very few research groups in the world that are doing research on starfish. The Elphick lab at QMUL in London and Flammang group at the the University of Mons in Belgium are two of the few that are. But there are so many interesting aspects of starfish biology. Sequencing the Asterias rubens genome would provide information that would attract more researchers to study starfish – in particular to identify genes/proteins involved in processes such as a). arm regeneration, b). collagenous tissue mutability, c). secretion of ‘sticky’ proteins that mediate adhesion and much more..

    • Photo: Twisted-wing Fly

      Twisted-wing Fly answered on 8 Dec 2017:


      Benefits from our kind of research can pop up in very unexpected ways – there is still so much to be discovered.

Comments