Corals: On the Brink • iBiology

00:00:05:04 (engine humming)
00:00:17:04 - [Line] I don't think I realized what a strong affinity
00:00:20:01 I had for nature until I started scuba diving.
00:00:25:03 - [Man] Bucket bucket?
00:00:27:05 Bucket?
00:00:29:07 You're not gonna move anything all right?
00:00:32:14 - [Line] I'm from Denmark.
00:00:34:19 - [Man] So that's all right.
00:00:35:15 - The wilderness is about the same square area
00:00:37:21 as like our highways.
00:00:39:19 So there's not a lotta wilderness there
00:00:41:11 so I left after high school in search
00:00:43:17 of sort of wild places and new adventures.
00:00:47:03 (water crashing)
00:00:49:22 (light music)
00:00:53:23 I started scuba diving and that was kind of it for me.
00:00:56:17 I just could not believe that I saw.
00:01:01:11 My mind was blown away.
00:01:13:08 It's a humbling experience actually.
00:01:23:05 You realize that you're very small and insignificant.
00:01:35:05 Actually I started off studying fish.
00:01:39:06 Then it was only after my PhD
00:01:41:09 that I turned my attention to corals.
00:01:46:10 They are incredible animals actually.
00:01:49:09 A lot of people are surprised to hear
00:01:51:05 that they are animals.
00:01:52:12 They're often thought of as rocks.
00:01:57:08 They live in close symbiosis with microalgae
00:02:01:20 that live inside their tissues.
00:02:06:01 And these microalgae will use the sun's energy
00:02:09:02 to photosynthesize and provide corals with nutrition.
00:02:15:15 These algae actually give the coral
00:02:18:02 a lot of their color.
00:02:24:18 Corals are the trees of the rainforest if you like.
00:02:30:15 They are truly magnificent ecosystems.
00:02:38:15 I wish we didn't have to think about the future
00:02:41:04 of the Great Barrier Reef.
00:02:44:15 But that's just not the reality that we're facing.
00:02:47:22 Climate change is the biggest threat to coral reefs.
00:02:51:23 (light music)
00:02:54:20 As the ocean warms the corals experience heat stress.
00:03:01:02 The algae that they have living in their tissues
00:03:03:19 will be expelled.
00:03:06:20 And once they're lost out of their tissues
00:03:09:01 they look white
00:03:11:10 so what you can see is actually the skeleton
00:03:14:10 shining through the tissues.
00:03:22:11 Corals can recover if the environment returns to normal
00:03:27:13 but it's when the disturbances become massive
00:03:30:23 and very frequent that we have to start worrying
00:03:34:15 and that's what we're seeing.
00:03:43:08 Unless we take action
00:03:46:00 and really think outside the box
00:03:48:01 it's very hard to see a really strong future
00:03:52:00 for coral reefs anywhere.
00:03:58:22 I think we have a responsibility to look at all options
00:04:02:17 on the table
00:04:03:14 and genetic engineering is one of those tools.
00:04:12:16 Can you breed more temperature-tolerant corals in the lab?
00:04:18:22 (light music)
00:04:21:07 You really only have one or two chances every year
00:04:24:09 to get it right.
00:04:28:02 The reproduction of many coral species
00:04:30:08 only happens once a year
00:04:32:05 and it often happens only
00:04:33:23 over a couple of nights every year.
00:04:40:02 When it's just about to happen
00:04:43:04 we identify the corals
00:04:44:18 that look like they're about to spawn.
00:04:49:22 We bring them back into the lab.
00:04:53:21 And then we breed them here.
00:05:05:15 Some species are just remarkably synchronized.
00:05:08:19 They will spawn down to the exact minute
00:05:12:16 on the same night after the full moon
00:05:16:00 of the same month every year.
00:05:20:00 It's just incredible.
00:05:28:02 Once we know the genes that are involved
00:05:30:20 in the temperature tolerance of corals
00:05:35:06 we use the CRISPR-Cas system to knock out
00:05:38:08 or disable certain genes.
00:05:43:06 And then we look at how the organism performs.
00:05:52:03 The next step will be to see whether we can edit those genes
00:05:56:08 to increase the temperature tolerance.
00:06:04:11 (water sloshing)
00:06:07:09 The general population would probably be very concerned
00:06:10:20 about the idea of modified organisms in the environment.
00:06:19:16 I think it's important to keep in mind
00:06:21:22 that doing nothing on coral reefs
00:06:24:22 is not a risk-free option either.
00:06:26:23 (light music)
00:06:37:09 - We have to figure out how to help the coral
00:06:40:11 because we're responsible for warming the ocean.
00:07:03:06 What we love about nature is this notion
00:07:06:20 that humans don't have anything to do with it.
00:07:10:03 And it's really kind of an illusion.
00:07:15:04 There's really two camps
00:07:17:09 those who feel that you can intervene in nature
00:07:20:00 and those who say let nature take its own course.
00:07:25:16 Traditionally environmentalists have come out
00:07:28:10 of this ethos with Ansel Adams
00:07:31:11 and all the classic photos of Yosemite.
00:07:36:04 Think of pristine wilderness.
00:07:40:06 Protect that land protect those ecosystems.
00:07:44:12 That's conservation.
00:07:51:01 These incredible national monuments that we go to
00:07:55:03 they're not just empty places left uninhabited.
00:08:03:12 They have a whole cast of characters
00:08:06:10 maintaining that nature for us.
00:08:12:08 We have a responsibility to use our human ingenuity
00:08:15:21 and our wherewithal to be responsible stewards
00:08:18:23 and sometimes it's leaving nature alone
00:08:22:09 and sometimes it might be intervening.
00:08:26:08 (water sloshing)
00:08:30:06 You can see the trends on extinction.
00:08:33:00 It's just this sad declining line.
00:08:39:09 Once you realize the magnitude of humans' impact
00:08:43:14 on the environment and you realize
00:08:45:23 that there's new technology that can actually help improve
00:08:49:09 the condition potentially for other species
00:08:52:01 it's hard not to imagine
00:08:53:10 could you actually bring species back?
00:08:59:14 How do you create a more biodiverse
00:09:02:10 and really bioabundant planet?
00:09:08:05 - We're looking at a world that's warming.
00:09:11:04 We need to take action on climate change
00:09:13:05 but even if we fix that tomorrow
00:09:15:12 the world will continue to warm
00:09:17:14 for at least 20 or 30 or 40 years.
00:09:20:13 And so what will happen in that intervening time
00:09:23:16 to these magnificent ecosystems?
00:09:26:01 (light music continues)

This Talk

Speakers: Line K Bay, Ryan Phelan

Audience:

General Public
Educators of H. School / Intro Undergrad
Student
Educators of Adv. Undergrad / Grad
Researcher
Educators

Recorded: July 2018

Talk Overview

Coral reefs are truly magnificent ecosystems that support an abundance of marine life, and they are under threat. As climate change warms the oceans, corals become stressed by the heat and struggle to survive. Can modern genetic tools, like CRISPR-Cas9, help save them? Some scientists say it is our responsibility to make sure corals adapt to climate change.

Please head to the Science Communication Lab’s website for more films like this along with educator resources, full video transcript, and most up to date content.

View Transcript on SCL Website →

More Climate Change Films →

Speaker Bio

Line K Bay

Line Bay

Line K Bay is a biologist with a passion for biodiversity, conservation and coral reefs. She is Team Leader of the Reef Recovery, Adaptation, and Restoration team and a Principal Research Scientist and Sub Program leader of the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP) at the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences (AIMS). Her research group… Continue Reading

Ryan Phelan

Ryan Phelan

Ryan Phelan is the Co-founder and Executive Director of Revive & Restore, with a mission to enhance biodiversity through the genetic rescue of endangered and extinct species. Ryan works with some of the world’s leading molecular biologists, conservation biologists, and conservation organizations to develop pioneering genetic rescue projects using cutting-edge genomic technologies to solve previously… Continue Reading

Credits

Executive Producers: Elliot Kirschner, Sarah Goodwin
Producers: Regina Sobel, Shannon Behrman
Cinematographers: Jimmy Purtill, Dean Miller, Derek Reich
Editor: Regina Sobel
Interviews: Adam Bolt
Graphics: Chris George, Maggie Hubbard
Music: Marcus Bagala, Keegan DeWitt

Leave a Reply Cancel reply