Skip to main content

How Genetic Engineering Could Save Coral Reefs

Rising sea surface temperatures and ocean acidification are set to destroy more than 90 percent of coral reefs by 2050.

Despite increased awareness to the threat of climate change to biodiversity, and the establishment of guidelines to preserve marine ecosystems, environmental degradation is occurring faster than the pace of coral adaptation through natural selection according to Hoegh-Goldberg, climate scientist, and biologist specializing in coral reefs.

Elevated seawater temperatures and coral bleaching are providing the correct conditions for opportunistic and/or pathogenic bacteria to damage coral reefs further, accompanying the decline in coral health.

However, thanks to microbial biotechnology it has been shown that coral-associated prokaryotes can be manipulated through inoculations with specific taxa.

Scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science, and University of Melbourne have identified that the modification of the microbiome may provide flexibility for the coral to be able to respond to, and deal with environmental disturbances. 

Some potential modification of the microbes include:

  1. Alteration in the relative abundance of certain species.

  2. Acquisition of new species or variants from the environment or by mutations in the genomes of the existing community.

  3. Selective breeding of coral.

  4. Preconditioning coral to sublethal stress.

  5. Laboratory evolution of endosymbiotic Symbiodinium spp. followed by inoculation of the coral with tolerant algal symbionts.

  6. Manipulation of various members of the coral microbiome

What does this mean?

Scientists have already been able to prove that this type of manipulation can be successful if applied in open marine systems. This was done by conducting a reciprocal transplantation of Acropora hyacinthus fragments between thermally distinct environments on the same reef, resulting in an adjustment of the microbial communities to the new conditions. 

Genetically modification of endosymbiotic coral prokaryotes provides a potential solution to increasing the coral’s tolerance to and ability to recover from stress, enhancing the coral’s ability to rapidly evolve and adapt to the extreme threats of climate change, ultimately benefiting ocean health.

DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.12769

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What you need to Know About Violet Biotechnology

Violet Biotechnology is related to publication invention, IPRs (Intellectual Property Rights) and patents of biotechnology. It is devoted to regulation and problem solving, it's also responsible for the formation of a platform  for discussion. While the other forms of biotech aim at increasing the number of inventions, violet biotechnology maintains them. Biotechnology is a sector that is responsible for causing a lot of doubts and fears, due to the radical potential of many inventions. These fears have caused serious moral dilemmas and discussions. Due to disputes as a result of these fears, the formation of a new branch of biotechnology was created, the Violet branch.  Violet Biotechnology Includes Encouraging new inventions within biotechnology  Analysis and Publication of biotech research  Patenting of biotech inventions  Enforcement of intellectual property Applications of Violet Biotechnology Many of the processes within this sector of biotech take years due to the legal impl
Post a Comment
Read more

6 Must-Read Science Communication Books

What is science communication? Science communication is what makes science, science. It is the process of breaking down the complex science that research has discovered over the years into messages that are  comprehendible to  the general public. Scientists dedicate their lives to asking questions and finding answers, so we can better understand  universe around us. The main driving force behind all of the discovery that takes place, is to help people.  Without science communication, nobody would know why science is important as it is and how it helps them. So how do scientists become good communicators? and non-scientists become good receivers? The answer is learning. To make your life easier we have compiled six must-read science communication books: The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century - Steven Pinker The majority of science communication relies on the written medium: scientific journals, websites, books and magazines. Steven Pinker, a
Post a Comment
Read more

Edible Mushrooms – Harnessing Nature’s Natural Pesticide

Through the BioMed Research International, s cientists have found edible mushrooms to be a sustainable tool for the control of parasitic nematodes affecting agriculture and livestock industry.  Nematodes are organisms living in the soil and animals’ guts where they may live as parasites severely affecting economically important crops and farm animals, thus causing economic losses to worldwide agriculture. Traditionally, parasitic nematodes have been controlled using commercial pesticides and anthelmintic (AH) drugs. The overuse of commercial pesticides have not only lead to extensive environmental damages, they have also caused the nematodes to become resilient, reducing the usefulness of many commercial drugs. Edible mushrooms have been explored as a successful, less harmful “pesticide” to use on livestock and agriculture.  Studies have identified ten species of gilled fungi, including the oyster mushroom, who have the ability to produced tiny droplets from structures in their myceliu
Post a Comment
Read more