🪸🌔 Coral spawning season at AIMS is a critical time for many of our research projects. This includes our gene-editing work, much of which is done at the single-cell level 🔬🧬
By editing fertilised coral eggs, any genetic changes we make will be replicated in every cell of the coral animal as it develops. And there’s only one time of year where scientists have access to an abundance of newly spawned coral eggs…
That means late nights and serious “focus mode” for AIMS@UWA PhD candidate Max Moonier.
🎥 In this video, Max explains how he is using genetic techniques such as CRISPR to create DNA “name tags”, which can be used to monitor corals (and even their offspring!) once they leave the National Sea Simulator (SeaSim) and return to the Great Barrier Reef.
💡 Learn more about AIMS gene-editing research to better understand and protect coral reefs:
https://www.aims.gov.au/research-topics/featured-projects/reef-spawning-research-aims/gene-editing-technologies-understand-and-protect-coral-reefs
This research is supported by AIMS, UWA and Johns Hopkins University.
