--- description: The latest gene editing tool, CRISPR-Cas9, could give scientists new ways of saving endangered coral reefs. title: How Gene Editing Could Save Coral Reefs image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0126bce8eab61563/69892e6722fb856340e256a7/gettyimages-843963364.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Genetics](/tag/genetics/) ## Genetics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How Gene Editing Could Save Coral Reefs ## Video: Extreme Heatwaves Killed Half of the Great Barrier Reef's Coral in 2 Years, Study Says [Watch (HLS stream): Extreme Heatwaves Killed Half of the Great Barrier Reef's Coral in 2 Years, Study Says](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PNed7vek.m3u8) (1:14)  _Published 2018-04-19. In the world’s largest coral system off the Australian coast, the scientists found that a marine heat wave in 2016 prompted catastrophic levels of bleaching and, when the reefs didn’t recover, die-offs_  by [Alice Park](/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Apr 23, 2018 7:00 PM CUT  Close up details of Coral Bleaching event on Table Coral (Acropora sp.) in the reef of Indo-Pacific. Coral bleaching is caused by warming sea temperature and high light intensity, which cause coral to expel symbiotic algae, Zooxanthellae. Close up details of Coral Bleaching event on Table Coral (Acropora sp.) in the reef of Indo-Pacific. Coral bleaching is caused by warming sea temperature and high light intensity, which cause coral to expel symbiotic algae, Zooxanthellae.Sirachai Arunrugstichai—Getty Images  by [Alice Park](/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Apr 23, 2018 7:00 PM CUT The powerful gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 is taking the scientific world by storm. It gives researchers unprecedented power and precision in making tweaks to practically any gene in a plant or [animal](http://time.com/4995237/crispr-gene-editing-pigs-fat/ "undefined") — and coral reefs could become its next beneficiary. In a paper published in the _Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences_, researchers led by Phillip Cleves at Stanford University used CRISPR to edit three genes in corals growing in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Cleves manipulated the genes very early in the coral’s life cycle — just after fertilization of egg and sperm, when the coral is just one cell. That ensured that the genetic change was as widespread in the resulting coral’s genome as possible. Two of the genes were responsible for the reef’s coloring — coding for red and green fluorescent proteins — and one was involved in regulating how new coral settles and grows in a reef. **MORE**: [First CRISPR Human Trial Approved in the U.S.](http://time.com/4380352/crispr-human-trial-us/ "undefined") Cleves and his team disrupted the genes using CRISPR and demonstrated that the resulting embryos contained the mutated genes. Making the edits wasn’t easy, however, since coral only spawn once or twice a year during a very limited window. Cleves collaborated with Great Barrier Reef coral experts at the Australian Institute of Marine Science to perfectly time the spawning, which is synchronized to the full moon. They wanted to use CRISPR in coral embryos since more of the coral’s cells would show the effect of the genetic edits as it grew. The results suggest that CRISPR could be used to learn more about what specific coral genes do, and eventually, to help scientists manipulate them so they might become more resilient to [bleaching](http://time.com/4300444/great-barrier-reef-coral-bleaching-climate-change/ "undefined") caused by environmental stresses like [global warming](http://time.com/4786586/global-warming-antarctica-green/ "undefined") and pollution. For now, Cleves says the technology won’t be used to genetically engineer bleach-proof coral, but to build a much-needed database on coral genes and their functions to better understand coral biology. By disrupting specific genes and studying which coral functions are compromised as a result of the CRISPR intervention, scientists can learn more about the coral’s life cycle. They could find, for example, that there are some genes that help coral to withstand the warmer temperatures associated with climate change. “It would be nice to know if there were genes to make corals more or less susceptible to global warming,” says Cleves. “It could be that there are natural populations of coral that are more likely to survive and could help focus conservation efforts.” Such work could also help scientists apply CRISPR to existing coral, not just coral embryos, to cause genetic change. “Even if we don’t know how to do that now, it’s not unreasonable to think we can do that in the future,” says Cleves. “We’re hitting a renaissance in what we are starting to learn about the genetic basis of coral biology. We hope this paper serves as a humble blueprint for the types of studies people can do. Because despite the havoc we have seen on the coral reefs due to climate change, we are still in the pretty early days of understanding the genetic basis of that.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5250927/crispr-gene-editing-coral-reefs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5250927/crispr-gene-editing-coral-reefs/"},"headline":"How Gene Editing Could Save Coral Reefs","datePublished":"2018-04-23T19:00:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:03:35.666Z","description":"CRISPR could give scientists new ways of saving endangered coral reefs","url":"https://time.com/5250927/crispr-gene-editing-coral-reefs/","keywords":["Genetics","healthytime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0126bce8eab61563/69892e6722fb856340e256a7/gettyimages-843963364.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0126bce8eab61563/69892e6722fb856340e256a7/gettyimages-843963364.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Close-up detail of Coral Bleaching","caption":"Close-up detail of Coral Bleaching","creditText":"Sirachai Arunrugstichai—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/genetics/","name":"Genetics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5250927/crispr-gene-editing-coral-reefs/","name":"How Gene Editing Could Save Coral Reefs"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Extreme Heatwaves Killed Half of the Great Barrier Reef's Coral in 2 Years, Study Says","description":"In the world’s largest coral system off the Australian coast, the scientists found that a marine heat wave in 2016 prompted catastrophic levels of bleaching and, when the reefs didn’t recover, die-offs","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/PNed7vek/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-04-19T14:21:30.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PNed7vek.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5250927/crispr-gene-editing-coral-reefs/","duration":"PT1M14S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5250927/crispr-gene-editing-coral-reefs/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```