In a previous blog post I wrote about sea urchin research by Mark Cyrus. So far I've just heard about his work, but this week I got to help spawn sea urchin for future projects. It's actually a pretty simple procedure and was really interesting to help out with. Basically we injected the urchin with potassium chloride (the same chemical used for lethal injections) to induce sperm or egg release. Then you just set the urchin upside down on top of a beaker and wait. After the egg and sperm are collected and quantified, all that's left is to mix! I didn't realize how much sea urchin spines move when they are out of water. It was fascinating to watch. I would write more, but here is a video of a science class spawning sea urchin that will explain it better than I can.
A very cool day at work. Hopefully I will get to shadow and help with more of the project while I am here.
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