and involved a team of scientists from the NOAA Fisheries and the Smithsonian. NOAA Fisheries’ National Systematics Laboratory director and zoologist Allen Collins explained that the researchers are used to working with hundreds of samples, “but this turned into a special case that required focused efforts and expertise of several different individuals. This was a complex mystery that required morphological, genetic, deep-sea and bioinformatics expertise to solve.”
Not “some people”; It was done by us, using taxpayer $$’s.
The study of spider silk led to this, and much more:
The development of methods to mass-produce spider silk led to the manufacturing of military, medical, and consumer goods, such as ballistic armour, athletic footwear, personal care products, breast implant and catheter coatings, mechanical insulin pumps, fashion clothing, and outerwear.[89] —- wikipedia
The study of horseshoe crabs and their unique blue blood led to medical practices saving hundreds of thousands of lives.
As I recall, studies of sea anemone excretions which they use to hold fast to rock underwater lead to synthesis of super strong weather resistant adhesives and sealants used in several industries and the US space program. Might have been some other sea critter but research almost always pays for itself over and over, often in unexpected, unpredictable ways.