The Other Maine

The Other Maine

These strange animals may help unlock revolutionary new science. There are thousands of them in Bar Harbor.

MDI Biological Laboratory scientists love their 'crazy critters'

Emily Burnham's avatar
Emily Burnham
Nov 18, 2025
∙ Paid
Transgenic - genetically modified - axolotls. Photo courtesy MDI Biological Laboratory.

At a few days old, an axolotl is hardly bigger than a grain of rice, newly hatched out of its gelatinous egg and wriggling alongside its hundreds of brothers and sisters. Despite its size, you can make out the physical characteristics that have made it so captivating …

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