Pelletreau included in National Geographic article on photosynthetic sea slugs
National Geographic mentioned the work of Karen Pelletreau, a researcher and the manager of Workshops, Programs, and Training at the University of Maine’s Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, in an article about photosynthetic sea slugs. Living off the East Coast of the United States, the sea slug defies traditional rules that animals do not photosynthesize. It takes chloroplasts into its skin, turning it a bright green and allowing it to derive energy from sunlight as plants do, going up to nine months or more without eating. Scientists hope research on the slugs could yield insights in the fields of immunology and gene therapy, according to National Geographic. But the slugs are becoming rare. Pelletreau used to work extensively with the slugs, but had only found them at Martha’s Vineyard and a place in Nova Scotia. Searching locations in Maine where they had been found previously yielded nothing. Pelletreau’s research team has raised the slugs in captivity, but the process is complex and difficult enough that finding them in the wild is actually easier. Further research would require scientists to find a way to raise a large number of the animals, the article states.