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posted by chromas on Thursday April 26 2018, @01:00AM   Printer-friendly
from the causative-coralation dept.

CRISPR used to genetically edit coral

In a proof-of-principle study, Stanford scientists and their colleagues used the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system to modify genes in coral, suggesting that the tool could one day aid conservation efforts. [...] "Up until now, there hasn't been a way to ask whether a gene whose expression correlates with coral survival actually plays a causative role," Cleves said. "There's been no method to modify genes in coral and then ask what the consequences are."

[...] Corals pose a bit of a problem when it comes to CRISPR because of their spawning cycles. Most corals, including the Acropora millepora that was the focus of the study, breed only once or twice a year, during October and November in the Great Barrier Reef, cued by the rise of a full moon. During this fleeting window, corals release their sex cells into the ocean. When the eggs and sperm meet, they form zygotes, or fertilized single cells. During the narrow time window before these cells begin to divide, a researcher can introduce CRISPR by injecting a mixture of reagents into these zygotes to induce precise mutations in the coral DNA.

Retrieving the zygotes is quite a logistical challenge, Cleves acknowledged. Fortunately, his collaborators in Australia have the timing down pat; they can predict when the moon spawn will occur within a couple of days, allowing them to take coral samples from the reef to gather zygotes for experimentation.

CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing in a reef-building coral (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1722151115) (DX)


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  • (Score: 2) by Arik on Thursday April 26 2018, @02:58AM (2 children)

    by Arik (4543) on Thursday April 26 2018, @02:58AM (#672000) Journal
    How about coral that's able to get interested more than twice a year, for a start?
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 26 2018, @03:36AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 26 2018, @03:36AM (#672015)
    Egg production isn't cheap.

    Might not be affordable for an organism that is having difficulty surviving day to day.
    • (Score: 2) by Arik on Thursday April 26 2018, @04:03AM

      by Arik (4543) on Thursday April 26 2018, @04:03AM (#672023) Journal
      Doesn't matter, you don't want to release the genetically modified coral into the wild anyway. At least, not immediately, not hastily by any means.

      No, you missed the point. A strain that could be more easily induced to reproduce would allow them a more reliable and less expensive supply of zygotes, with which to do further research.

      IF they came up with something that should be introduced to the wild, at some point down the road, they could of course reverse this particular modification before doing so.
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