Photo of Lindsey Bailey by Carolyn Cruz
Lindsey Bailey is putting the sex lives of mussels under the microscope. The invasive zebra and quagga mussels threaten native species, clog boat engines and water pipes and cost the U.S. billions of dollars each year. She's checking to see whether radiated sperm is still able to bind and fuse to the egg. If so, Bailey is hoping for a new equation: where one egg plus one damaged sperm equals no mussel at all.
