Scientific studies have led to the discovery that sea cucumbers could be the answer to helping treat future diseases.
Labs across the globe regularly use mice, fruit flies and other organisms for research and now the marine creatures have been added to the list.
Boffins from Marine Biological Laboratory, in Massachusetts, US, and Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohen, in Naples, Italy, believe the sea cucumber can be an important tool in furthering our understanding of the evolutionary development of animals.
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And therefore help in advances in both biomedicine and ecological conservation.
The sea cucumber, also known as Holothuria tubulosa, is found in the Mediterranean Sea and eastern Atlantic Ocean.
It belongs to the echinoderm group that includes starfish, sand dollars and sea urchins.
Some of these species have been used in studies for over a century due to their suitability for genetic research and cost-effectiveness, as reported in Need To Know.
Genetically, echinoderms are the closest invertebrates to humans, which means we have most of our genes in common.
Margherita Perillo, who led the study, said: “If we understand how genes function in an echinoderm, then we also know how they function in humans.
“Sea cucumbers also have attributes and special skills — such as being deposit feeders, which cleans the ocean floor, and the ability to completely regenerate their whole body — that could be useful in conservation and biomedicine.”
She added: “The sea cucumber is a fascinating animal and the better we understand it, the more value it has as a research organism
“My plan now is to develop genetic tools to help further characterise it as an emerging comparison model in evolutionary development.”
