Great Barrier Reef Coral Frozen in Revolutionary Experiment by Scientists

Great Barrier Reef Coral Frozen in Revolutionary Experiment by Scientists

Scientists from Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) working on Great Barrier Reef (GBR) corals has successfully frozen GRB corals by using “Cryomesh” technology to freeze and store coral larvae. It will help in building reef which are threatened by climate change all over the world.

What is Cryomesh

Cryomesh is a specially fabricated mesh material which is used in cryopreservation, involving preservation of living tissues or cells at a very low temperature.

It helps to store coral larvae at -196ºC (-320.8ºF).

It is made of biocompatible material such as stainless steel or biodegradable polymer which can be used in variety of applications like preservations of cells, tissues and organs for research purpose etc.

Importance of coral preservation

Cryogenically frozen coral can be stored for a longer period of time and later it can be reintroduced to the wild and eventually help to rewild reef threatened by climate change.

What is Coral

Corals are marine invertebrates that form compact colonies of many of many identical polyps. It lives in symbiotic relationship with microscopic algae called zooxanthellae which give colour and 90% of the energy needs of coral.

Coral Reefs and Climate Change

Corals are the backbone of the marine ecosystem in the tropics. They are threatened by the rising water temperature caused by the global warming and they are among the first ecosystem world wild that are on the verge of ecological collapse.

Hight temperature hit corals reefs especially hard by causing widespread bleaching events, where corals eject the symbiotic algae in their tissues.

Coral bleaching is becoming stronger and more frequent due to heat stress.

Great Barrier Reef (GBR) Coral

it is the world’s largest coral reef system in the coral sea, located off the coast of Queensland, Australia. Because of its outstanding universal value, UNESCO recognised GBR as the World Heritage Site (WHS) in 1981.