{"id":347482,"date":"2025-10-06T16:09:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T10:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=347482"},"modified":"2025-10-06T16:09:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T10:39:16","slug":"coral-larvae-cryobank-project-and-coral-triangle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/coral-larvae-cryobank-project-and-coral-triangle\/","title":{"rendered":"Coral Larvae Cryobank\u00a0Project and Coral Triangle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong>News:<\/strong> Scientists at the University of the Philippines are establishing the nation\u2019s first cryobank to conserve coral genetic material and aid in reef restoration.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify\">About the Coral Larvae Cryobank\u00a0Project<\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 696px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.frontiersin.org\/files\/Articles\/1172102\/fmars-10-1172102-HTML-r2\/image_m\/fmars-10-1172102-g002.jpg?resize=696%2C213&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Frontiers | First successful production of adult corals derived from ...\" width=\"696\" height=\"213\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Frontiers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Coral Larvae Cryobank<\/strong> is set up by the <strong>University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The project is <strong>part of a wider regional initiativ<\/strong>e that links research institutions in the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand to <strong>create a network of cryobanks<\/strong> across the Coral Triangle.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Aim:<\/strong> To strengthen <strong>resilience<\/strong> and <strong>secure the Coral Triangle\u2019s reefs for future<\/strong>.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The project focusses on <strong>freezing and preserving coral larvae<\/strong>, which <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">can <strong>later be used to revive damaged reefs or for research.<\/strong> This will protect genetic diversity that might otherwise be lost.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The initial focus is on <strong>pocilloporid corals<\/strong> which is <strong>known for their rapid growth and important role in reef recovery<\/strong>, but vulnerable to climate stress.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><strong>Process of cryopreservation:\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li data-start=\"61\" data-end=\"174\"><strong data-start=\"117\" data-end=\"134\">Vitrification: <\/strong>Coral larvae are preserved safely using a method called vitrification, which <strong>protects their delicate cells<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"61\" data-end=\"174\">The larvae are <strong>first treated with special protective solutions<\/strong> and then <strong data-start=\"249\" data-end=\"267\">rapidly frozen<\/strong> in <strong>liquid nitrogen at \u2013196\u00b0C<\/strong>, turning them<strong> into a glass-like state<\/strong> that prevents ice crystals from forming.<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"61\" data-end=\"174\">To bring them back to life, scientists <strong data-start=\"419\" data-end=\"464\">thaw the larvae very quickly using lasers<\/strong>, avoiding damage from ice formation.<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"61\" data-end=\"174\">After thawing, <strong>the larvae are gradually placed in seawater, checked for signs of life<\/strong> like swimming and settling, and <strong>then moved to tanks to grow.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li data-start=\"61\" data-end=\"174\">This technique <strong>allows coral genetic material to be stored for years<\/strong> and later used to help restore damaged reefs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Challenges to Cryopreserving:<\/strong> Cryopreserving many coral species is challenging as their larvae and reproductive cells are large, lipid-rich, sensitive to cold, and often contain algae that block cryoprotectants.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>About Coral Triangle<\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 548px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.adb.org\/multimedia\/coral-triangle\/images\/maps-04.jpg?resize=548%2C262&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"The Coral Triangle\" width=\"548\" height=\"262\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Asian Development Bank<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Location:<\/strong> The Coral Triangle <strong>spans 5.7 million sq. km<\/strong> covering <strong>six countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific<\/strong> \u2013<strong> Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It is located between the <strong>Pacific and Indian oceans.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Biodiversity:<\/strong>\u00a0It is often referred to as the <strong>\u201cAmazon of the seas.\u201d<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It holds the <strong>highest marine biodiversity in the world<\/strong> including <strong>around 76% of all known coral species<\/strong> and over 2,000 species of reef fish.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Marine Ecosystems:<\/strong>\u00a0It encompasses <strong>critical ecosystems like coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass beds,<\/strong> supporting a vast array of marine life, including turtles, sharks, and various fish species.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ecological Importance:<\/strong>\u00a0The Coral Triangle is <strong>crucial for maintaining global marine biodiversity and resilience<\/strong>, playing a vital role in marine and coastal ecosystems.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Human Dependency:<\/strong>\u00a0Over<strong> 120 million <\/strong>people live in the Coral Triangle area, depending on its resources for food, livelihood, and economic activities, particularly through fishing and tourism.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Threats:<\/strong>\u00a0Faces significant threats from <strong>overfishing, climate change, pollution, and habitat destruction<\/strong>, particularly coral bleaching due to rising sea temperatures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">According to the <strong>Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2020 report, the planet lost 14% of its corals<\/strong> between 2009 and 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: Scientists at the University of the Philippines are establishing the nation\u2019s first cryobank to conserve coral genetic material and aid in reef restoration. About the Coral Larvae Cryobank\u00a0Project Coral Larvae Cryobank is set up by the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute. The project is part of a wider regional initiative that links&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/coral-larvae-cryobank-project-and-coral-triangle\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Coral Larvae Cryobank\u00a0Project and Coral Triangle<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10366,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,4182,1738,12039],"tags":[11872,10498],"class_list":["post-347482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-environment","category-science-and-technology-daily-factly-articles","category-knolls","tag-9pm-daily-factly","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10366"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347482\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}