Washington State University scientists from a range of fields expect that recently completed $1 million upgrades in aquatic biology equipment and facilities on the Pullman campus will help them make significant advances in health-related research.
“The new APS technology will enable rigorous tests of physiological, ecological and evolutionary hypotheses with greatly enhanced realism and replication,” said Erica Crespi, associate professor of biology and principal investigator for the Murdock grant. “It will contribute to innovative studies for understanding human health, the health of wildlife and the generation of biodiversity in the natural world.”
Aquatic and semi-terrestrial organisms have long been biomedical models of human health and disease. Studies of zebrafish and xenopus frogs, for example, provide insights about embryonic and early developmental processes. How the two animals are able to regenerate appendages is, as yet, only minimally understood.