Major steps are being taken to save an ocean critter critical to the ecosystem: the sunflower sea star. After disease nearly wiped out the population across the west coast about 10 years ago, University of Washington researchers were tasked with saving the species. Using some of the few existing sea stars in the Friday Harbor region, scientists, led by researcher Jason Hodin, bred and nurtured multiple generations of lab-grown sea stars. The breeding process started in 2019 and finally, in August, the years of waiting came to fruition and the first group of lab-grown sea stars was released into the wild for the first time ever. READ MORE: https://www.king5.com/article/tech/science/environment/saving-species-scientists-release-first-lab-grown-sea-stars-washington/281-cc6cc6e2-61ee-452b-8e32-e0a5e766356b