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Genetically Developed Corals to Save The Great Barrier Reef

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Scientists are genetically modifying corals in hopes of helping the Great Barrier Reef adapt to climate change faster. They are crossbreeding corals from different areas and using IVF to speed up reproduction. This could allow corals to evolve more quickly to survive rising temperatures, which currently threaten the reef. However, genetically modified corals may outcompete native species or introduce invasive traits, so their effects need further study.

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Barrier Reef coral genetically altered in hope of surviving climate change Cameron 7C The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef, consisted of over 2,900 individual reefs. The Great Barrier Reef stretches for more than 1,300 miles across the Coral Sea off the coast of Queensland, northeastern Australia. The reef is a habitat for more than 400 species and types of sea creatures. The reef is home to humpback whales and endangered species, such as the dugong (sea cow) and the large green sea turtles. The greatest threat to the Great Barrier Reef currently is considered to be climate change. Corals are really sensitive to rising temperatures, water will become more acidic and harmful to corals. The corals have suffered too many coral bleachings and there are too many corals dying, the Great Barrier Reef is starting to die due to rising temperatures. Reports have shown that the Great Barrier Reef covered area can drop down to 10% if the warming continues to get worse and if temperature continue to rise, marine scientists have warned that the reef will get permanently damaged if there are no immediate actions taken. Some reasearch show already half the coral cover(a surface on coral reefs covered
by live stony coral) has disappeared in 30 years, and it might drop to less than a quarter within a decade, that would result in sponges and algae taking over and replacing coral reefs. Reducing human caused threats like overfishing or pollution can lessen the coral deterioration. However, if the temperature continues to rise, lowering threats caused by humans will not be enough to save the corals. Scientists have been looking into how “assisted evolution” can help corals adapt to the changing environment, they are aiming to genetically develop modified coral reefs to help the population of coral reefs in the Great Barrier Reef area grow faster. Environmental engineering techniques for building coral reef means having to breed a new generation of corals to be strong against certain conditions. Scientists and researchers believe these ideas will cause lots of debate from people, but they argue building a “biological safeguard” is an action that is needed to be taken. From genetically developing coral reefs, we can help the coral reefs to adapt faster to the changing environment and the rising temperatures This will also help boost the evolution of coral reefs. Scientists have already been experimenting at the Australian institute’s sea simulator in Townsville, Queensland, different types of corals were picked just after their yearly breeding and used IVF to help speed up the process of reproduction of corals. The scientists experimented with these newly bred corals and recorded
their growth into an adolescent coral. Corals from the central part of the Great Barrier Reef were collected and were crossbred with the corals from the colder southern part of the Great Barrier Reef, and scientists wanted to see if the combination of two types of corals can be stronger in higher temperatures. There are hopes that this research can speed up the evolutionary process so the corals can survive in unpredicted weathers and also the unusual and bizarre amount of warming in the oceans. Even though corals can adapt to different temperatures, it usually takes thousands of years before they will completely evolve to survive in constantly changing temperatures. Research scientists say that it is possible that they can create genetically modified coral reefs and let natural selection do the rest. Everyone is looking for more ways to soothe the impact of global warming on coral reefs, and Unesco is considering to list the Great Barrier Reef as “in danger”. There are the side effects of genetically developing corals, while this might might help coral reefs survive in high temperatures, it might harm other creatures at the same time. One of the biggest worries would be that these artificially improved organisms might have different traits that give them a competitive advantage over the native creatures. From this perspective, artificially modified organisms are sometimes seen as an unusual kind, which can be invasive. Alternatively, these newly bred corals may blend in with native species or other introduced species to produce invasive combinations of two species. Other concerns are that plants and animals that have been moved to another place may carry germs impacting the health of the native populations, or they might cause a change in genetic structure (i.e., genetic pollution) of native creatures and species, and a loss of genetic diversity, or a breakdown of adapting gene structures. Sources:
1) "Coral Cover." Healthy Reefs for Healthy People. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2015. <http://www.healthyreefs.org/cms/coral-cover/>. 2) "Creative Commons." Creative Commons. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2015. <http://search.creativecommons.org/>. 3) "Great Barrier Reef." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrier_Reef>. 4) "Great Barrier Reef, Australia." Climate Hot Map. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2015. <http://www.climatehotmap.org/global-warming-locations/great- barrier-reef-australia.html>. 5) "'Irreversible Damage' to Great Barrier Reef by 2030 Unless Urgent Action Taken." Mail Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2015. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2574664/ Irreversible-damage-Great-Barrier-Reef-2030-unless-urgent-action-taken.html>. 6) Knowlton, Nancy, ed. "Building Coral Reef Resilience through Assisted Evolution." PNAS. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2015. <http://www.pnas.org/ content/112/8/2307.full>. 7) Milman, Oliver. "Barrier Reef Coral Genetically Altered in Hope of Surviving Climate Change." The Guardian. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2015. <http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/feb/03/barrier-reef- coral-genetically-altered-in-hope-of-surviving-climate-change>. 8) Smith, Birdie. "Genetically Modified Coral Could Help save Reefs, Report Argues." The Sydney Morning Herald. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2015. <http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/ genetically-modified-coral-could-help-save-reefs-report-argues-20150203- 133rpz.ht ml>.

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Genetically Developed Corals to Save The Great Barrier Reef

  • 1. Barrier Reef coral genetically altered in hope of surviving climate change Cameron 7C The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef, consisted of over 2,900 individual reefs. The Great Barrier Reef stretches for more than 1,300 miles across the Coral Sea off the coast of Queensland, northeastern Australia. The reef is a habitat for more than 400 species and types of sea creatures. The reef is home to humpback whales and endangered species, such as the dugong (sea cow) and the large green sea turtles. The greatest threat to the Great Barrier Reef currently is considered to be climate change. Corals are really sensitive to rising temperatures, water will become more acidic and harmful to corals. The corals have suffered too many coral bleachings and there are too many corals dying, the Great Barrier Reef is starting to die due to rising temperatures. Reports have shown that the Great Barrier Reef covered area can drop down to 10% if the warming continues to get worse and if temperature continue to rise, marine scientists have warned that the reef will get permanently damaged if there are no immediate actions taken. Some reasearch show already half the coral cover(a surface on coral reefs covered
  • 2. by live stony coral) has disappeared in 30 years, and it might drop to less than a quarter within a decade, that would result in sponges and algae taking over and replacing coral reefs. Reducing human caused threats like overfishing or pollution can lessen the coral deterioration. However, if the temperature continues to rise, lowering threats caused by humans will not be enough to save the corals. Scientists have been looking into how “assisted evolution” can help corals adapt to the changing environment, they are aiming to genetically develop modified coral reefs to help the population of coral reefs in the Great Barrier Reef area grow faster. Environmental engineering techniques for building coral reef means having to breed a new generation of corals to be strong against certain conditions. Scientists and researchers believe these ideas will cause lots of debate from people, but they argue building a “biological safeguard” is an action that is needed to be taken. From genetically developing coral reefs, we can help the coral reefs to adapt faster to the changing environment and the rising temperatures This will also help boost the evolution of coral reefs. Scientists have already been experimenting at the Australian institute’s sea simulator in Townsville, Queensland, different types of corals were picked just after their yearly breeding and used IVF to help speed up the process of reproduction of corals. The scientists experimented with these newly bred corals and recorded
  • 3. their growth into an adolescent coral. Corals from the central part of the Great Barrier Reef were collected and were crossbred with the corals from the colder southern part of the Great Barrier Reef, and scientists wanted to see if the combination of two types of corals can be stronger in higher temperatures. There are hopes that this research can speed up the evolutionary process so the corals can survive in unpredicted weathers and also the unusual and bizarre amount of warming in the oceans. Even though corals can adapt to different temperatures, it usually takes thousands of years before they will completely evolve to survive in constantly changing temperatures. Research scientists say that it is possible that they can create genetically modified coral reefs and let natural selection do the rest. Everyone is looking for more ways to soothe the impact of global warming on coral reefs, and Unesco is considering to list the Great Barrier Reef as “in danger”. There are the side effects of genetically developing corals, while this might might help coral reefs survive in high temperatures, it might harm other creatures at the same time. One of the biggest worries would be that these artificially improved organisms might have different traits that give them a competitive advantage over the native creatures. From this perspective, artificially modified organisms are sometimes seen as an unusual kind, which can be invasive. Alternatively, these newly bred corals may blend in with native species or other introduced species to produce invasive combinations of two species. Other concerns are that plants and animals that have been moved to another place may carry germs impacting the health of the native populations, or they might cause a change in genetic structure (i.e., genetic pollution) of native creatures and species, and a loss of genetic diversity, or a breakdown of adapting gene structures. Sources:
  • 4. 1) "Coral Cover." Healthy Reefs for Healthy People. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2015. <http://www.healthyreefs.org/cms/coral-cover/>. 2) "Creative Commons." Creative Commons. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2015. <http://search.creativecommons.org/>. 3) "Great Barrier Reef." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrier_Reef>. 4) "Great Barrier Reef, Australia." Climate Hot Map. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2015. <http://www.climatehotmap.org/global-warming-locations/great- barrier-reef-australia.html>. 5) "'Irreversible Damage' to Great Barrier Reef by 2030 Unless Urgent Action Taken." Mail Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2015. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2574664/ Irreversible-damage-Great-Barrier-Reef-2030-unless-urgent-action-taken.html>. 6) Knowlton, Nancy, ed. "Building Coral Reef Resilience through Assisted Evolution." PNAS. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2015. <http://www.pnas.org/ content/112/8/2307.full>. 7) Milman, Oliver. "Barrier Reef Coral Genetically Altered in Hope of Surviving Climate Change." The Guardian. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2015. <http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/feb/03/barrier-reef- coral-genetically-altered-in-hope-of-surviving-climate-change>. 8) Smith, Birdie. "Genetically Modified Coral Could Help save Reefs, Report Argues." The Sydney Morning Herald. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2015. <http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/ genetically-modified-coral-could-help-save-reefs-report-argues-20150203- 133rpz.ht ml>.