In October of 2026, an international community of investigators including undergraduates, technicians, graduate students, postdocs, and faculty will convene for the 29th Developmental Biology of the Sea Urchin and other Marine Invertebrates (DBSUMI) conference at the Marine Biological Laboratory.

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We will enjoy 3 days of plenary and concurrent sessions from invited speakers and selected abstracts, as well as two evening poster sessions and two Pre-Meeting Workshops. Brand new to the DBSUMI Meetings, we introduce a "Lightning Talk" competition for students and trainees to promote poster attendance. We will also have a panel on teaching EvoDevo and broadening participation in science in groups historically not included in scientific education or research. We invite all participants to consider contributions to a future Conference Publication Collection, generously sponsored by Discover Developmental Biology.

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DBSUMI XXIX 2026 HIGHLIGHTS

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• Pre-Meeting Workshops (register by July 31st 2026):

  • LLM tools for single-cell analysis and protein-protein identification: Jacob Musser + Lab (Yale University)​

  • RNAi and Tg approaches for embryonic knockdown in marine invertebrates: Combo of Labs, more info soon! 

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• Student "Lightning Talks": Students and trainees submitting abstracts will have the opportunity to compete for one of 10 Lightning Talk Slots. Selected trainees will have a maximum of 2 slides and 5 minutes to deliver an "elevator pitch" for your work. The goal isn't to present all your results, but to hook the audience and entice them to visit your poster for the full story. The most engaging presenter will walk away with the Best Lightning Talk Award and a monetary prize. 

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• Opportunity for publication fee waivers in the forthcoming DBSUMI XXIX Conference Collection, to be published in the Journal "Discover Developmental Biology" (formerly Development Genes and Evolution). During abstract submission we will ask about your interest level in acting as potential contributor, peer reviewer, or guest editor. Involvement with this collection is not mandatory to submit an abstract or register for DBSUMI XXIX, but we encourage the community to consider this opportunity!

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• Retrospectives on the 20th Anniversary of the 2006 Publications of the Purple Sea Urchin Genome.

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• DBSUMI XXIX Logo contest, to commemorate the 20th Genome Anniversary and the Future of Genomic Resources for the marine invertebrate research community.

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Plenary Topics will span developmental biology, including gene expression and regulatory networks, organogenesis, cell signaling, metamorphosis, immunity and regeneration, skeletogenesis, evolution, and model organism development. Attendees of the meeting work with a broad range of model systems, including echinoderms (e.g. sea urchins, sea stars, and sea cucumbers), hemichordates, ascidians, annelids, mollusks, and cnidarians. The science will span a variety of techniques, including genomics, imaging, high-throughput assays, cell biology, scRNAseq, gene editing, responsible use of new AI/LLM tools, and much more.