New gel could boost coral reef restoration
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 8-Jun-2025 13:09 ET (8-Jun-2025 17:09 GMT/UTC)
A joint research team led by Dr. Hyun-Yeol Jeon and Dr. Hyo-Jeong Kim at the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Senior Researcher Sung-Bae Park, Professor Dong-Yeop Oh at Inha University, and Professor Je-Young Park at Sogang University has developed a high-performance polyester-amide (PEA) polymer that decomposes by over 92% in one year under real marine conditions, while maintaining strength and flexibility comparable to nylon.
Researchers at the University of Guam Marine Laboratory have integrated novel sequencing technologies to reveal hidden diversity in coral reef ecosystems.
Coral reefs provide the structure for an astounding array of diversity, with many examples of symbiotic relationships. Certain species of coral provide food and protection for coral guard crabs (Trapezia), which live safely ensconced in the branches of the corals and defend them from predators like the crown-of-thorns starfish.
Pink salmon, Purple Asian clams, marine invertebrates that form spaghetti-like colonies and a nematode worm that causes extensive deaths of trees are among the new entries in experts’ watchlist of invasive non-native species that could threaten Great Britain in the next 10 years.
The latest version of the watchlist, which again includes known problem species such as the yellow-legged (Asian) hornet, raccoon and twoleaf watermilfoil, has been produced by experts led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and commissioned by Defra.
The marine bacterium Alcanivorax borkumensis feeds on oil, multiplying rapidly in the wake of oil spills, and thereby accelerating the elimination of the pollution, in many cases. It does this by producing an “organic dishwashing liquid” which it uses to attach itself to oil droplets. Researchers from the University of Bonn, RWTH Aachen University, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and research center Forschungszentrum Jülich have now discovered the mechanism by which this “organic dishwashing liquid” is synthesized. Published in the prominent international journal Nature Chemical Biology, the research findings could allow the breeding of more efficient strains of oil-degrading bacteria.