August 21, 2006
You can’t make this stuff up
BY: Andy Sharpless
Twenty-eight years ago, the world welcomed (albeit with raised eyebrows), the first “test tube baby” into the world. Back then, in vitro fertilization (IVF) was considered a radical medical procedure. But after the success of a few hundred thousand IVF babies, it was only logical to take the concept to the next level. Enter coral reefs.
A team of University of Miami marine science researchers is collecting coral eggs and sperm all this week during an annual reproductive ritual, dubbed coral spawning. They hope “test-tube coral babies” will take root to help restore a tract of reef ravaged by a 1984 ship grounding in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
Brace yourself for an even more radical idea to help coral reefs: not destroying them in the first place.