Powerful Medicines Reach out and grab a sponge.
Living sponges can also be taken apart, sorted into collections of individual cells in a process called dissociation. Skim The Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution expedition has been gathering sponge samples off the coast of Florida, about 80 miles west of Sanibel Island. Aboard the Edwin Link research vessel, Shirley Pomponi, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution's director of biomedical marine research, and her team of biomedical scientists are taking a close look at the samples they've collected off the Florida Keys. They hope the sea creatures will provide medicines that will fight cancer and other diseases. Shirley Pomponi, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution's director of biomedical marine research, sorts sponge samples while chemist Amy Wright takes notes.