Ningaloo Reef coral selective breeding doubles its heat tolerance, study finds

Mon, 9 Jun 2025 19:18:03 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-09/selective-breeding-coral-bleaching-ningaloo-reef/105389888>

'Unnatural selection has bred life in all shapes and sizes, and a
globe-spanning team of scientists says the same practice might help save
Western Australia's Ningaloo Reef.

Mining billionaire Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest will share that finding at the
United Nations Ocean Conference this week, after research backed by his
philanthropic Minderoo Foundation discovered that selective breeding could
harden certain Indian Ocean corals against rising ocean temperatures.

Kate Quigley, a molecular ecologist at the foundation's Exmouth laboratory, led
the study.

She said years of selective breeding trials had shown great promise for
protecting the World Heritage site from coral bleaching.

In the past summer alone, the reef faced widespread damage amid a
record-breaking marine heatwave.

But by manipulating its annual coral spawn, researchers claim they have
confirmed a long-held hope.

"After only one round or one generation of breeding, we were actually able to
double the heat tolerance of the baby corals," Dr Quigley said.'

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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