Genetics for Saving Coral Reefs from Climate Change

Why not apply genetic techniques used in agriculture to save oceans from climate change? This notion led Dr. Ruth D. Gates from the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii at Manoa and Dr. Madeleine van Oppen from the Australian Institute of Marine Science to win the 2013 Ocean Challenge: Mitigating Acidification Impacts, endowed by Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and The Oceanography Society.

"The rate at which coral reefs worldwide are declining has raised concern about the natural capacity of corals to adapt at a pace fast enough to keep up with human induced climate change. Similar to the genetic selection of animals and plants, coral reef organisms could be genetically selected to boost their resilience to environmental stress, but this has not yet been attempted. Our research focuses on understanding how can we harness naturally occurring mechanisms of adaptation and acclimatization to extend the functional range and resilience of corals to the more acidic and warmer conditions predicted for the oceans of the future," said marine ecologists turned molecular biologists Dr. Gates and Dr. Van Oppen. The researchers got US$10,000 for their study and will be presenting their concept at the upcoming Ocean Sciences Meeting in Honolulu next February.

Read more at http://www.pgafamilyfoundation.org/oceanchallenge/.