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The Michael Sars Centre, University of Bergen, is an international community of scientists studying the molecular and cellular biology of marine organisms. https://linktr.ee/michaelsarscentre

Michael Sars Centre

It is easy to think that sea squirts only display simple behaviors and do not significantly interact with their environment 🌊 New research lead by @olegtolstenkov.bsky.social, Sissel Norland and @mchatzigeorgiou.bsky.social proves this assumption wrong 👏⤵

New research on the sea squirt Ciona intestinalis challenges the view that animals living fixed in place have simple behaviors and limited responses to their environment.

www.uib.no

New study reveals an unsuspected range of behaviors in the sea squirt Ciona

For our first #MSS2026 session after lunch, the focus was on digitizing gene regulation 💻 Three fantastic talks from Anthony Mathelier @amathelier.bsky.social @ncmbm.bsky.social, Boris Lenhard @borislenhard.bsky.social and Tom Michoel from @cbubergen.bsky.social 👏

Michael Sars Centre

"I hope this study encourages people to pay more attention to sessile marine animals, which are often overlooked despite being such an important part of ocean ecosystems." - Oleg Tolstenkov Read the full article ⤵️

For our second #MSS2026 session on life history and evolution, Matthew Rockman @wormsrock.bsky.social delighted us with tales of dimorphism in worm larvae, and Christian Jørgensen from @unibergen.bsky.social explored the wide concept of phenotype 🌍

We started very strong with the first #MSS2026 session, as Anne-Claude Gavin, Deirdre Lyons @scrippsocean.bsky.social and @jmbrandenburg.bsky.social put cell biology in context 🔬 Fascinating insights on lipid transport, mollusc diversity and ascidian development in a changing ocean 👏

We are ending #MSS2026 on a high note with two beautiful talks👏 Isabella Graf @isabellagraf.bsky.social @embl.org on the subtleties of sensory systems, and Susanna Röblitz @cbubergen.bsky.social on modelling rare gene expression events. A huge thanks to our speakers and engaged audience! 🙏

Using machine-learning to track the movements of adult Ciona intestinalis, the team identified a rich behavioral landscape shaped by environmental cues 💡 In addition,, different regions of the animal’s body respond differently to stimulation, suggesting a spatially structured sensory system 🗺️

After an insightful day at #MSS2026 yesterday, we keep the ball rolling with a very informative talk by Line Mariann Grønning-Wang from The Research Council of Norway 👏 She explained the RCN's strategy for funding life sciences, and took part in a roundtable discussion. Thank you for joining us!

#MSS2026 is on 🙌 Co-organizers @lionlchristiaen.bsky.social and @nathaliereuter.bsky.social welcomed attendees to the 5th edition of our Symposium, a fantastic collaboration with @cbubergen.bsky.social. And we were honored to have Prof. Rein Aasland @reinoslo.bsky.social give the opening remarks 👏

Michael Sars Centre

Was wonderful to chair this first session at #MSS2026! I am still always surprised by how stimulating these symposium days are! 🧠⚡️ Thanks to the organizers @msarscentre.bsky.social & @cbubergen.bsky.social!

Michael Sars Centre

Video

Sessile benthic animals are thought to have limited behavioral repertoires due to immobility and simple nervous systems. Here, we characterize the spo…

www.sciencedirect.com

Embodied postural dynamics underlie behavioral diversity in a benthic sessile chordate

Emily Claereboudt

Michael Sars Centre