Coral embryos are able to clone themselves

"As the early stage embryo develops it divides into a cluster of cells," explains Dr Heyward, "because this ball of cells lacks a protective outer-layer we wondered whether subjecting them to a little turbulence might cause them break up."

It did, but what happened next was even more astonishing.

"To our surprise many of the fragmented coral embryos later began to develop and settle in just the same way as their siblings that had remained intact," continues Dr Heyward. "Interestingly, these fragmented embryos became smaller versions of baby corals than the complete embryos".

www.physorg.com...
www.sciencenews.org...

Please forgive my ignorance. (Actually, it's stupidity, not ignorance. The article has given me the facts, I can't figure out their meaning.) I understand that the coral embryos, right from the beginning, are multiples like triplets and that they use this fact to spread over the ocean. But other than learning that we can use that to produce coral faster than we could before, what is the significance of this discovery?

reply to post by charles1952


I always thought fragmented embryos aren't survivable.

And IMO it's interesting, because it's just another species, that don't need sex for reproduction.
Like many amphibians.

Coral has been used medically for a while now.

Uses of Coral Coral is used in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery and as a substrate for new bone growth.

sorry if that is off topic OP, just wanted to contribute


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