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Stanford discovers way to save ghostly corals from the brink
SFGATE • • science
Key Points:
- Stanford researchers have developed a new method to revive bleached corals by physically touching them with healthy coral fragments, resulting in full recovery within seven weeks in a lab setting.
- The study found that genetically identical coral fragments need close contact for about a week to heal, as their tissues can fuse similarly to organ transplants between identical twins.
- This discovery challenges the common perception that bleached corals are a lost cause and highlights their potential for rapid natural recovery.
- Scientists caution that scaling this method for wild reef restoration is currently impractical, as it requires genetically identical healthy corals and sustained contact.
- The findings offer new hope for coral reef conservation and may lead to breakthroughs in accelerating reef restoration amid growing climate threats.
