That slug’s got some nerve

The sea slugs are shipped in from the California coast, and they arrive faster than a slug’s reputation might suggest.

Justin Domacena, a Loyola University Chicago senior majoring in molecular and cellular neuroscience, is “working with these animals fresh from the water.” He does so on Tuesdays and Thursday mornings inside the Life Science Building and under the tutelage of biomedical engineering professor Hui Ye, a rare in-person opportunity that Domacena sought out purposefully this fall. Though he’s on the premed track, he’s not practiced any dissection work since high school. “The pandemic motivated me more to do something extra,” Domacena says, “to feel more productive during this time.” 

A sea slug is a big snail without a shell. What makes them useful for Ye and Domacena is their very simple, yet large, nervous system. The lab is performing foundational research questioning whether it’s possible to suppress electrical messages that course through nerves. (The technical term is “microcoil stimulation.”)  

See more: View our gallery of fall semester classes at Loyola

The slugs are moved from tanks to a petri dish; under a microscope, Domacena can then stimulate the slug to see how its electrical signal reacts. “This has a couple of applications to it, but the most prominent one is that it could potentially block pain signals,” he says. “So anyone experiencing lower back pain, like sciatica or anything of that sort.” 

The Life Science Building is almost always vacant when Domacena swipes his ID card for preferred access. (He’s required to fill out a health screening before he arrives on campus, too.) It’s occasionally eerie walking over from his apartment, passing through familiar spaces largely devoid of familiar faces. But he’s grateful for the hands-on experience under the circumstances, as well as the University’s continued emphasis on public health.  

“At the moment,” he says, “it’s probably best that campus is empty, even though it feels so weird.”