Dan Distel

So, how do genderless clams have sex?

For the first time ever, researchers at Northeastern and the University of Portsmouth document how shipworms, tube-like animals that eat waterlogged wood, fight over sexual…

by Adam Fischer and Benjamin Bertsch December 21, 2020

Researchers observe the bizarre sexual behavior of shipworms for the first time

One afternoon, a researcher walked into his lab at Northeastern’s Marine Science Center and saw something shocking: A competitive sexual frenzy was happening right before his eyes, with individuals wrestling and sparring for dominance. The participants? A cluster of shipworms, whose unique sexual behavior is “basically unknown in bivalves,” says Dan Distel, who directs the Ocean Genome Legacy Center at Northeastern’s Marine Science Center.

by Molly Callahan December 9, 2020

Unlike humans, shipworms have no problem with bacteria getting in their cells. Why?

There’s a fine line between helpful bacteria and harmful bacteria, says Dan Distel, who directs the Ocean Genome Legacy Center. Studying the helpful kind in shipworms may help researchers understand dangerous infections in humans.

by Laura Castañón August 10, 2020

Long, thin mollusks known as shipworms are famed (and feared) for their ability to eat wood. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

The bacteria in the clam that sank a thousand ships

Shipworms are long, thin mollusks famed (and feared) for their ability to eat wood. They rely on bacterial partners to break the wood down into nutrients they can use. Studying these bacteria could reveal more efficient ways to use the wood and plant waste generated on land, says marine biologist Dan Distel.

by Laura Castañón May 19, 2020

This mollusk grows fat on a diet of rock

Scientists are turning to shipworms and other mollusks as a potential source of new compounds for human medicine. The discovery by researchers of Northeastern’s Ocean Genome Legacy Center of a bizarre shipworm, and the bacteria that help it survive, provides an opportunity to look for new antibiotics or chemicals that might help in the treatment of cancer and other diseases.

by Laura Castañón June 18, 2019

Dan Distel and Rueben Shipway discovered a new genus of shipworm in the Philippines. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

It’s a clam that dresses in pinstripes and devours wood

Researchers from Northeastern’s Ocean Genome Legacy Center in Nahant, Massachusetts, discovered a new species of wood-boring clam in the Philippines.

by Laura Castañón February 13, 2019

Scientists from Iraq work with researchers at the Marine Science Center in Nahant on October 11, 2018. Photo by Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University

Saddam Hussein destroyed the biblical Eden. This cross-cultural partnership could restore it.

Researchers at Northeastern’s Marine Science Center are working with the University of Basrah in Iraq to restore the marshlands of southern Iraq and reconnect the Iraqis with the global scientific community.

by Laura Castañón January 15, 2019