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This article details research done by Ana Lyons, a 2024 Grass Fellow at the Marine Biological Laboratory ( �黨�ǿ���Ƶ). Lyons spent her summer at the �黨�ǿ���Ƶ making strides toward developing tardigrades as a model organism for neuroscience.

If there was an official fan club for tardigrades, also known as water bears, its president would be Ana Lyons, Ph.D. She first learned about these charismatic microscopic animals on a trip to the library as a teenager, and she’s been a lifelong enthusiast of these creatures that are found in nearly every ecosystem imaginable. “I found it captivating that there is this parallel microscopic world that I could learn about,” said Lyons.

The smallest animal we know of that has both eyes and limbs, at just half a millimeter in length, tardigrades are well known for their hardiness in extreme conditions. We’ve sent them to space and found them among hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor. But Lyons, who as a graduate student studied their thermal tolerance, cautions that their reputation for indestructibility is somewhat misunderstood. “They can go into all of these forms of complex dormancy because they’re so sensitive to environmental stimuli.”

With all their complexity in a tiny transparent package, could tardigrades be a useful organism for neuroscientists to study as they unravel the many mysteries of the brain? .

Source: Time for Tardigrades | The Grass Foundation Blog