Searching for resilience to sea star wasting disease

Your body is home to a unique collection of bacteria, viruses, and fungi that live in and on you, known as your microbiome. When everything is in balance, you feel good. But when your microbiome is off, you can get sick. The same applies to the rest of the animal kingdom—including sea stars. When their microbiome is out of whack, they can become vulnerable to infections like the mysterious sea star wasting disease (SSWD), which can cause limb loss and worse, disintegrating into jellylike puddles on the ocean floor.