Rescuing Coral Reefs with Genomics

The world's coral reefs are in danger. Recently, sustained higher water temperatures caused a dreadful coral bleaching event affecting 91% of Japan's largest coral reef. A similar incident occurred on Australia's Great Barrier Reef the same year. 25% of sea creatures live along coral reefs, so bleaching poses a major threat to marine ecosystems. We'll look at new research, led by Associate Professor Chuya Shinzato, that aims to restore reefs by analyzing coral genomes to determine what makes some coral more resistant to warmer water, and growing new coral under conditions more similar to the natural habitat.