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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)
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday April 26 2018, @03:14AM
The only way that coral displaces seawater is if it manages to capture additional mass from the land or air and trap it in the oceans, which seems unlikely.
However, floating coral - particularly floating coral that starts by attaching itself to plastic garbage, then trapping gasses to remain buoyant while still building a hard skeleton, that would be pretty funny. Still, to raise sea levels 5 meters, the coral itself would have to be holding 5m of water's mass above sea level (everywhere) based on its displacement with trapped gasses below the waterline.
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