This book highlights the potential advantages of using marine invertebrates like tunicates, echinoderms, sponges and cephalopods as models in both biological and medical research. Bioactive compounds found in marine organisms possess antibacterial, antifungal, anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory properties, and can affect the immune and nervous systems. Despite substantial research on the medicinal attributes of various marine invertebrates, they are still very much underrepresented in scientific literature: the majority of cell, developmental and evolutionary scientific journals only publish research conducted on a few well-known model systems like Drosophila melanogaster or Xenopus laevis. Addressing that gap, this book introduces readers to new model organisms like starfish or nemertera. By showing their benefits with regard to regeneration, stem cell research and Evo-Devo, the authors provide a cross-sectional view encompassing various disciplines of biological research. As such, this book will not only appeal to scientists currently working on marine organisms, but will also inspire future generations to pursue research of their own.

Inhalt
1.Differentiation and transdifferentiation of sponge cellsMaja Adamska, Division of Biomedical Science and Biochemistry, Research School of BiologyLinnaeus Building 134, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia

2.Crabs reviewParvez Alam, Marie Curie Very Experienced Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh, UK
Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, UK
Adjunct Professor: Composite Materials and Biostructures, AAU, Finland
Visiting Professor in Biomimetics, UGM, Indonesia

3. Medusa reviewCheryl Ames, Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Washington District of Columbia, USA

4. The crown of thorns starfish: from coral reef plague to model system
   Kenneth W Baughman, Marine Genomics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technolog, Graduate University, Onna, Okinawa, 904-0495, Japan 
   5.Vision made easy: box jellyfish can advance our understanding of systems level visual information processingJan Bielecki, Marine Biological Section, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 4, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark

5. Mechanisms of immune response in coralsLuis F. Cadavid, Dept. de Biología & Instituto de Genética, Universidad Nacional de ColombiaBogotá DC, Colombia

6. Starfish as a model system for analyzing signal transduction during oocyte maturation and fertilizationDavid Carroll, Director of Graduate Programs in Biology Dept. of Biological Sciences Florida Institute of Technology 150 West University Blvd. Melbourne, FL 32901, USA

7. Translational regulation in marine organisms and interest in cancer researchPatrick Cormier, Responsable équipe Traduction Cycle Cellulaire et Développement, Laboratoire de Biologie Intégrative des Modèles marins- LBI2M- UMR8227, Station Biologique CNRS UPMC, Place Georges Teissier CS 90074, 29688 ROSCOFF CEDEX, France

8. Octopus vulgaris: an invertebrate alternative model system of complex brainAnna Cosmo, Department of Biology, University of Napoli Federico II, Napoli, NA 80126, Italy

9. Cellular and molecular mechanisms of regeneration in echinodermsCarlos Diaz-Balzac and Garcia-Arraras, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Department of Genetics, Ullmann Building, Room 709, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, USA

10. Post-embryonic development (spec ifically metamorphosis) as a model for cell restructuring and differentiation in sea urchinsAndreas Heyland, University of Guelph, Integrative Biology, 50 Stone Rd East, SCIE 1468, Guelph, ON N1G-2W1, Canada

11. Small ncRNAs repertoire associated with immunity on Tunicates" or "ncRNA evolutionary patterns in Tunicata"Cristian Arley Velandia Huerto, MSc Bioinformatics Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Grupo RNomica teórica y computacional, Colombia

12. Jellyfish as the model for the evolution of sensory systems and stem cell differentiationDavid K. Jacobs, Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.

13. Regeneration in EchinodermsYoussra Ben Khadra, Laboratory of Genetics, Biodiversity and Valorization of Bioresources, Higher Institute of Biotechnology, University of Monastir, Monastir, Tunisia, and University of Barcelona, Spain&l...