 Over the next three decades, McFall-Ngai, Ruby, and dozens of postdocs and students would investigate all aspects of the symbiotic relationship.They worked to understand the development of the relationship at different stages of the squid life cycle, analyze the initiation of symbiosis in real time, and identify how the host selects its symbionts.They learned that the squid follows a rhythmic pattern in which the bacteria are brightest when the squid hunt at night  and are then expelled at dawn.