Sea stars' immunity can protect an ecosystem!

Sea stars have been dying off from the wasting disease, which scientists have believed that a virus related to rabies causes this, has been the source of the largest die off ever recorded. When infected, the sea stars' arms twist, and they develop white lesions. They also begin to melt and become squishy in the final stages of the disease. This disease nearly affects 20 different species and it has cause almost 90% of devastation off the West Coast. According to a Ph.D. student for quantitative biology, Lauren Fuess, and her team,  "the sea stars protect the rocky shores, keeping them from becoming dominated by mussels. When you remove the sea stars, you see dramatic declines of other species, so basically you go from a diverse ecosystem to a mussel-coated beach." Lauren Fuess works with Laura Mydlarz, who stated that, "we're looking at an increasing rate of diseases that may be linked to climate change as well as pollution in the ocean. While studying these fascinating creatures, the team found some very interesting genes that can fend off pathogens, such as the first melanin gene found in sea stars. I found this article very interesting because it shows what climate change and pollution can do to creatures everywhere. Many diseases are being discovered and we have no way to try and stop them. The ocean is very important to us and we need to protect no matter what.