On Sept. 27, 2018, researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD and the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) uncovered the genetic basis for the production of domoic acid, a potent neurotoxin produced by harmful algal blooms.

Harmful algal blooms cause significant economic and environmental damage to coastal communities around the world. These blooms occasionally produce toxins that can sicken marine mammals and can threaten human health when the toxins accumulate in seafood. A high-dose exposure to domoic acid, produced by a type of phytoplankton known as diatoms in the genus Pseudo-nitzschia, can lead to amnesic shellfish poisoning, a potentially fatal condition characterized by seizures and short-term memory loss.

This type of microalgae is noteworthy because in the summer of 2015 it caused the largest harmful algal bloom ever recorded off the West Coast of North America, from Alaska to Santa Barbara, and resulted in the closure of fisheries and crabbing seasons to protect consumers from potential shellfish poisoning.