CUNY Marine Biologist Gruber reels in a major prize with his underwater finds

Gruber

In a perfect world, marine biologist David Gruber would have an underwater laboratory so he could study animals in their natural habitat, without having to bring them to the surface. Until that day comes, he continues to find noninvasive ways for scientists to interact with creatures of the deep sea.

“I envision marine biologists of the future being able to extensively study the miraculous creatures of the deep sea, in their own setting, without harming them,” said Gruber, the presidential professor of biology and environmental science from Baruch’s Weissman School of Arts and Sciences.

Gruber’s work made headlines over the summer in The New York Times and the BBC, among others, for a study he co-authored on biofluorescence in sharks and his eye-catching discovery that their scales glow a brilliant bright green in the dark.

“This is just yet another amazing feature of shark skin that we didn’t already know about — adding to their list of superpowers,” said Gruber, whose research previously led to the discoveries of the first bioflourescent sea turtle, more than 200 species of illuminating sea animals and a novel family of fluorescent proteins from marine eels.

His latest study, published in iScience, explored the interaction of catsharks’ skin with light. He found that molecules inside their scales caused the blue photons that came in to be sent out as green.

In October, Gruber was honored with the 2019 Lagrange-CRT Foundation Prize, a prestigious international award that recognizes excellence in the study of complex systems across all scientific disciplines.

Gruber accepted the prize in Turin, Italy, along with fellow awardee Iain D. Couzin, a  British biologist and ecologist who is the director of the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Konstanz, Germany. They joined an illustrious list of awardees that includes renowned mathematicians, physicists and computer scientists from around the world.

“It is a huge honor to be among the luminaries who have been awarded the prize,” Gruber said. “I am grateful that this year’s prize focuses on the extraordinary complexity of the animal world and to understanding of the mechanisms that govern life on planets, including our own.”

In addition to his breakthrough work on marine biofluorescence, Gruber was noted for his interdisciplinary research of animal behavior that incorporates advanced machine learning, next-generation genomic sequencing, biochemistry and physiology. According to Gruber, these efforts are geared to develop a better understanding of the behavior and complexity of marine organisms, including sharks and whales.

Gruber earned a Ph.D. in biological oceanography from Rutgers University and a master’s of coastal environmental management from Duke University, and he was a postdoctoral fellow at Brown University’s Division of Biology and Medicine.

He also holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia, which he says has benefited his work. “I think it has really assisted my science career – both in terms of seeking truth and investigating deeply.”

In recent months he generated yet another wave of media attention for his ongoing work with a Harvard University roboticist, Robert Wood, in developing soft robots capable of gently grasping live jellyfish, a project they have been pursuing for five years. First, as a recipient of a National Geographic Innovation Challenge prize, and now with funding from the National Science Foundation, they are creating a six-fingered gripper — which Gruber calls “fettuccine fingers” — that will enable scientists to handle live specimens without harming them.

Gruber says he chose jellyfish because they are a biological marvel and, at more than 500 million years old, they predate dinosaurs.

“Jellyfish are ancient animals, but they hold many important secrets and lessons for humans. As  close cousins to corals, they have provided us with groundbreaking tools,” he said, noting that one of those tools, green fluorescent protein, is used by scientists to observe the proliferation of cancer cells.

Even the rise in ocean temperatures hasn’t stunted their growth, he said.

“As as other animals have struggled to survive, jellyfish are thriving and even getting more numerous.”