The Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory occupies a special niche in the history of twentieth-century biology and medicine. Only a few biological laboratories exist dedicated to basic research in a marine environment. MDIBL’s mission is to study marine organisms to discover mechanisms of biological significance that advance human health. Scientists at MDIBL carry out this mission using marine species as tools for basic investigation in physiology, molecular and cellular biology and toxicology. MDIBL is internationally known for discoveries leading to advances in cardiovascular, lung and kidney disease.

MDIBL is one of only four NIEHS Marine and Freshwater Biomedical Science Centers. Our scientists are physicians, physiologists, molecular and cell biologists from 65 institutions in the United States and Europe.

Research Programs. The Laboratory is growing in stature as a year-round research instiution. We continue to recruit both established scientists and junior investigators. Current research is conducted in the areas of:

Developing marine cell lines and stem cells
Osmoregulation in euryhaline fish
Crustacean comparative functional genomics
Comparative Toxicogenomics Database
Molecular mechanisms of elasmobranch kidney regeneration
Cell and Molecular Biology of Marine Elasmobranchs
Echinoderm embryology

Seasonal Research. The diversity brought by seasonal investigators has sustained a level of scientific inquiry that keeps the Laboratory on the leading edge of biology and biomedicine. Each summer, over 50 concurrent research projects are conducted at MDIBL. Projects vary, but include studies in the following areas: marine physiology, molecular biology, toxicogenomics, cell signalling, developmental biology, and neurobiology.

If you are interested in conducting seasonal research at MDIBL, application instructions and materials are available here.

A full list of MDIBL Investigators and Research Projects is published annually.

Learn more about:

Center for Marine Functional Genomics Studies

The NIH / NHGRI Skate Genome Project and MDIBL

The Comparative Toxicogenomics Database

Marine DNA Sequencing Center

Seminar Schedule