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Accidental Discovery Makes A Coral Reef Grow 25 Times Faster

posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday April 24 2019, @03:46AM   Printer-friendly
from the well-that's-odd dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

In a time where the coral reefs are dying at an unprecedented rate Dr. Dave Vaughan, former Executive Director at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida, accidentally found a way to increase the growth rates of corals by a factor of 25-40 . The technique called “microfragmenting” works by essentially cutting living corals into 1-5 smaller polyps using a specialized saw. This stimulates rapid healing and growth. The corals are then placed in a water tank where they will grow to full size over 4-12 months, after which the process can be repeated or divers can replant them at the reefs.

Dr. Dave Vaughan currently employs his technique with aim at restoring the Florida Reef Tract, which is the earth’s third largest coral reef and a vital ecosystem for underwater life. Furthermore, Dr. Dave Vaughan trains others in the technique, enabling them to set-up nurseries of their own from where they can help restore their local coral reefs.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday April 25 2019, @12:15AM (3 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday April 25 2019, @12:15AM (#834566) Journal

    So essentially he's growing clones.

    So... if I take a city, break it up into five pieces and put the people in five different places, I'm cloning humans?

  • (Score: 2) by aim on Thursday April 25 2019, @11:24AM (2 children)

    by aim (6322) on Thursday April 25 2019, @11:24AM (#834700)

    If you take a worm, cut it in 2 and let both parts regrow, they'll have the same genome. Same with the polyp.
    We're talking multiplying individuals, not diverse populations.

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday April 25 2019, @11:57AM (1 child)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday April 25 2019, @11:57AM (#834709) Journal
      You do realize that the story isn't speaking of cutting up a single polyp into five pieces? We're talking cutting up populations of corals, which very well could be multiple species and have some diversity.

      • (Score: 2) by aim on Thursday April 25 2019, @01:12PM

        by aim (6322) on Thursday April 25 2019, @01:12PM (#834729)

        No, I didn't get that from TFA. Following a link from TFA, I find "We take fragments of these corals, chop them into tiny microfragments, and allow genetically identical microfragments to fuse..." - that doesn't yet sound like genetic diversity to me.

        Further, they write "Plant approximately 70,000 coral fragments of diverse, endemic genetic varieties" - ok, there we're getting somewhere, in the future.
        They also write about targeted breeding for genetic variety... so it's not only about these clones. Which was my point.

        EOT for me.