Discussion of Contemporary Issues Related to Genetic Engineering. Selects and co
ID: 100897 • Letter: D
Question
Discussion of Contemporary Issues Related to Genetic Engineering. Selects and comments on one genetic engineering-related news from the past 5 years. Detailed instruction: Your submission should include an online link to your article a succinct summary (within 200 words) of the news so that it allows others to understand the main information about the news i. must mention the genetic engineering techniques overall comments (within 400 words) that points out i. Ethical issues and associated stakeholders ii. Economic impact iii. Environmental impact iv. Societal impact Format requirement: Use the given subtitles (DO NOT combine everything into one big paragraph).Explanation / Answer
Coral reefs are our most diverse marine habitat. They provide over US$30 billion to the world economy every year and directly support over 500 million people. However, they are vulnerable with climate change impact models predicting that most of our coral reefs will be eradicated within this century if we do not act immediately to protect them.
Dr Rachel Levin from The University of New South Wales, Australia and her international team of researchers may have found a solution to reduce coral bleaching by genetically engineering the microalgae found in corals, enhancing their stress tolerance to ocean warming.
These microalgae are called Symbiodinium, a genus of primary producers found in coral that are essential for coral reef health and, thereby, critical to ocean productivity. Symbiodinium photosynthesize to produce molecules that feed the corals, which is necessary corals to grow and form coral reefs.
Coral bleaching is caused by changes in ocean temperatures which harm Symbiodinium, leading corals to lose their symbiotic Symbiodinium and therefore starve to death.
Different species of Symbiodinium have large genetic variation and diverse thermal tolerances which effect the bleaching tolerance of corals. In research published in Frontiers in Microbiology, the researchers use sequencing data from Symbiodinium to design genetic engineering strategies for enhancing stress tolerance of Symbiodinium, which may reduce coral bleaching due to rising ocean temperatures.
The researchers have now highlighted key Symbiodinium genes that could be targeted to prevent coral bleaching.
"Symbiodinium that have been genetically enhanced to maintain their symbiosis with corals under rising ocean temperatures has great potential to reduce coral bleaching globally" they suggest.
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