Nestled in the shallow shores of the Brazilian coast is a flaming-red aquatic sponge known for its ability to cause severe pain upon contact. Though the fire sponge is vital to marine ecosystems because of its role in nutrient cycling and controlling algal blooms, BYU students and faculty are more interested in its genome, which could hold the secret to a new mechanism for cancer and malaria treatment.
Dr. Jonathon Hill, a cell biology and physiology professor, was eager to explore the complexities of the fire sponge’s cytotoxin, which kills tissue on the cellular level. To study the sponge’s distinctive molecular abilities through RNA sequencing, he launched an international collaboration that united students and faculty from two different academic institutions: BYU and the Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), a public university in Salvador, Brazil. “The Lord is always interested in truth and understanding,” Hill states. “And He’s always interested in ways that we can build unity and connection.”
The research team’s goal was to sequence and assemble the fire sponge genome to discover potential anticancer and antimicrobial compounds and to unravel the evolutionary genomic adaptations preserved within one of the animal kingdom’s oldest lineages.
Each university held pieces of the puzzle, but it wasn’t until they began working together that the project was able to flourish. In Brazil, marine biology professor Emilio Lanna works with his team to understand and document the behavior of the fire sponge, a species native to his country, and to collect samples for genomic testing. In the United States, Hill uses genomics to unravel the intricacies of the fire sponge’s toxin and its relevant chemical synthesis pathways that could be used for future medications. “By bringing our unique skill sets together we can do something that we could not do on our own,” Hill says with a smile. His experience serving a mission in Brazil equipped him with an understanding of the culture and language that made this collaboration possible.
Sharing Light Through Knowledge
Funded by a Fulbright Scholarship, Hill conducted research at UFBA and taught a class there on RNA sequencing to share the techniques his research team was utilizing for this project. Wanting to make the class content available to even more students, Hill worked alongside Jouber Calixto dos Santos (PhD ’26, CELL) and several other BYU students who had also served missions in Brazil to translate his RNA sequencing course into Portuguese. They also created an R programming tutorial to help students with statistical analysis, which allowed them to share their expertise with Brazilian students and work together to analyze RNA sequencing data. This shared data builds the foundation for future studies on chemical synthesis pathways, evolution, and even climate change. “Our goal with this collaboration,” notes Hill, “was to uncover as many ways as we could to use our unique gifts of light to bless lives.”
Hill’s course significantly impacted the Brazilian students enrolled and opened their eyes to many potential avenues for using the techniques they learned. Carine Belau de Castro Martins (PhD ’29, CELL) was fascinated by Hill’s class at UFBA, which led her to apply to BYU for her PhD. “All of the things he taught us about were things that I wanted to learn and apply in my future academic work,” Belau shares. Now a graduate student at BYU, she works closely with Hill and Lanna on this project.
“So many aspects of this project have culminated together to help us build bridges,” explains Hill. Not only did this collaboration allow BYU and UFBA students to conduct research together and form lasting connections, but it also provided opportunities for international outreach and using foreign language skills.
Hill would never have guessed that a collaboration like this could make such a difference in so many people’s lives. “The Lord knows your path even when you don’t,” he admits. He’s grateful that he followed the impression he received to make connections with faculty in Brazil to conduct research.
Thanks to Hill and his team’s efforts to meaningfully connect with UFBA, the future of the fire sponge research project is bright. “I think if Hill keeps feeding this collaboration, it will grow bigger and maybe even expand to other universities to build even more connections,” says Belau.
