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V O L . X X I I N O. X V I I J U LY 2 5 , 2 0 1 6 14 ey are here at MDIBL to learn about the breadth of model organisms, including C. elegans roundworms, fruit fl ies, zebrafi sh, mice and African killifi sh that are used to study aging and disease. It is one of the few labs in the world that studies mul- tiple model organisms, giving the students a rare insight into conducting research in other animals. e table is set up to encourage mingling and sharing of research and ideas. Soon the young scientist is talking about the organism she studies in her home lab: wild birds. She alters their eggs to study the results, which some day may be applicable to human conditions. "How do you get at the embryo?" asks another young scientist who overhears the conversation and joins the table. "I drill a small hole and go in with a needle, then fi nd the embryo, you know the white spot in the yoke, and inject it," the researcher says of the materials she puts into the embryo to alter it. e other young scientist nods and looks impressed by the technique. e group of visiting scientists soon heads off to hear a lecture on fruit fl ies by Vicki Losick, an assis- tant professor at MDIBL who studies regenerative biology and medicine in fruit fl ies. Lifelong pursuit For Losick, the fruit fl y is an ideal organism for study- ing both wound-healing and aging. Fruit fl ies have a short lifespan, up to two months, so studying genetic and other alterations is fast. Plus a lot is known about fruit fl ies, which have been studied for more than 100 years to answer basic questions in biology. Losick, who joined the lab in February, is studying wound healing, specifi cally stimulating large cells to grow even larger to heal damaged tissues. Typically, cells divide to heal wounds, so her approach is a new one for wound-healing. In her lab the day before her lecture, she shows me four types of mutated fruit fl ies under a microscope that have been lulled to sleep by gas. ey were taken from a refrigerator-like locker that keeps live fruit fl ies at a constant temperature and 60% humidity. Maine, with an average 30% humidity, is inhospitable to the fruit fl ies, she says. Like most scientists, Losick is focused on a narrow area that will defi ne her entire career. "First we need to understand the process to heal wounds," she says. "Once we see how that happens and how advantageous it is, we can manipulate it." e idea is to show that the molecular mechanism for healing for fruit fl ies also is conserved in mam- mals, and then potentially look for drugs that can tar- get cell growth. And that can take as long as a career. "I hope to see clinical applications to my work in my lifetime," she says. Art meets science In the halls leading to Losick's lab and throughout the corridors of the main laboratory building at MDIBL hang photographs, paintings and other art work by artists inspired by science. Montreal artist and biologist François-Joseph Lapointe makes what he calls microbiome selfi es, self-portraits created from the bacteria living in and on his body. Donald Rainville of Camden uses leafs, twigs and house paint to create images of nature that require using all of one's senses to appreciate. And JT Bullitt of Milbridge draws what he imag- ines are the invisible scientifi c forces that underlie accidental events, like a coff ee ring. While Mount Desert Island is now home to MDIBL, e Jackson Laboratory and College of the Atlantic, in the mid-1800s it was a haven for the wealthy to sum- mer and for artists to draw and paint nature. In 1901, private citizen George Dorr, who also was interested in science, felt Bar Harbor was being overdeveloped and formed a corporation to preserve land. e land became Acadia National Park in 1929. John D. Rockefeller Jr. endowed the park and much of its land area. e MDIBL exhibit, which runs through Sept. 30, honors the park's centennial. It includes artist and scientist collaborations , such as among artist Robyn Ellenbogen and MDIBL President Kevin Strange and Assistant Professor Dustin Updike. e work from their collaboration is inspired by C. elegans, a one-millimeter-long roundworm that is one of Strange's favorite organisms to study. Lives about more than science MDIBL: Where science meets art at the sea B y L o r i V a l i g r a Grants are a lifeline for researchers Here are some recent ones awarded to MDIBL April 2016: Lab receives $20,000 from the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research to support a course on aging from June 19-July 3 of 2016. July 2015: Lab President Kevin Strange gets five-year, $2.1 million National Institutes of Health grant to study how proteins are regulated. May 2015: Assistant Professor Dustin Updike gets $1.7 million National Institutes of Health grant to study factors that may make it easier and safer to use stem cells in medical treatments. June 2014: Lab gets five-year, $18.4 million National Institutes of Health grant to strengthen biomedical research and workforce training in the state through the Maine INBRE, or IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence, program. September 2013: Lab gets $13 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to support tissue repair and regeneration research at its tissue repair and regeneration research at its Center for Biomedical Research Excellence. September 2013: Assistant Professor Aric Rogers gets $400,000 New Scholar in Aging Award from the Ellison Medical Foundation to support four years of research. 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