BiotechNews1

Study finds some sea slugs consume algae, incorporate photosynthetic parts into their own bodies to keep producing nutrients Originally published by Kermit Pattison, Harvard Staff Writer, on June 25, 2025 It could be the plot of a summer sci-fi blockbuster: A creature feeds on its prey and inherits its “superpower. ” Only this is real. Corey Allard in his lab at Harvard Medical School.  Niles Singer/Harvard Staff Photographer A new study led by Harvard biologists describes how some sea slugs consume algae and incorporate their photosynthetic organelles into their own bodies . The organelles continue to perform photosynthesis , providing nutrients and energy to their hosts and serving as emergency rations in times of starvation . Read more   

Originally published by Marietta Fuhrmann-Koch, Heidelberg University, on September 29, 2023   Pictured is an early planula larval stage of the sea anemone Aiptasia (cyan nuclei and green stinging cells) preying on a crustacean nauplius (green) of the copepod Tisbe sp. Credit: Ira Mägele and Ulrike Engel Were the first animals predators or filter feeders like the sponges living in today's oceans? And what role did symbiosis with algae play, as with reef-building corals? Surprising findings by a research group led by Prof. Dr. Thomas W. Holstein of Heidelberg University on the development of sea anemones suggest that a predatory lifestyle molded their evolution and had a significant impact on the origin of their nervous system . As reported in a new article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , the researchers were able to show that the young life stages (larvae ) of the small sea anemone Aiptasia actively feed on living prey and are n...