{"id":56162,"date":"2025-10-06T20:28:42","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T14:58:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=56162"},"modified":"2025-10-07T11:59:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T06:29:43","slug":"philippines-coral-larvae-cryobank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/06-10-2025\/philippines-coral-larvae-cryobank","title":{"rendered":"Philippines Pioneers Coral Larvae Cryobank"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/ Environment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Philippines has launched <strong>Southeast Asia\u2019s first coral larvae cryobank<\/strong> to preserve coral genetic diversity and protect reef ecosystems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Coral Cryobank Initiative<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The initiative involves collaboration among research institutions in the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The objective is to freeze and preserve coral larvae, ensuring long-term protection of coral genetic diversity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>What is Cryopreservation?<\/strong><br>&#8211; Cryopreservation is the preservation of living cells or tissues at ultra-low temperatures <strong>(\u2013196\u00b0C),<\/strong> halting all biological activity for long-term storage.<br>&#8211; Coral larvae are first treated with <strong>cryoprotectant solutions<\/strong> (glycerol, ethylene glycol, DMSO) to replace water and prevent ice formation.<br>&#8211; Through <strong>vitrification<\/strong>, larvae are plunged into liquid nitrogen, turning into a glass-like state that avoids cell damage.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About the Coral Triangle<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Coral Triangle also known as the <strong>Amazon of the Seas<\/strong> spans around <strong>6 million sq. km<\/strong> across <strong>Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It encompasses portions of <strong>2 biogeographic regions:<\/strong> the Indonesian-Philippines Region, and the Far Southwestern Pacific Region.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is home to more than <strong>75%<\/strong> of the world\u2019s coral species, <strong>a third of reef fish<\/strong>, vast mangrove forests, and six out of seven marine turtle species.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e4ece8\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e4ece8;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"476\" height=\"290\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Philippines-Pioneers-Coral-Larvae-Cryobank.webp\" alt=\"coral triangle\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-56193\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Philippines-Pioneers-Coral-Larvae-Cryobank.webp 476w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Philippines-Pioneers-Coral-Larvae-Cryobank-300x183.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 476px) 100vw, 476px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Threats to Coral Ecosystems<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Climate change<\/strong> is driving <strong>coral bleaching<\/strong> and <strong>habitat destruction <\/strong>through rising ocean temperatures.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>According to the <strong>Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2020<\/strong> report, <strong>14%<\/strong> of the world\u2019s corals were lost between 2009 and 2018.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Destructive fishing, pollution, and unregulated tourism<\/strong> further accelerate reef decline.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ebecf0\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>What are Corals?<\/strong><br>&#8211; Corals are <strong>invertebrates <\/strong>that belong to a large group of animals called <strong>Cnidaria<\/strong>.&nbsp;<br>1. Corals are formed by <strong>multiple small, soft organisms known as polyps.<\/strong>&nbsp;<br>2. They secrete a<strong> rocky chalk-like (calcium carbonate) exoskeleton<\/strong> around themselves for protection.&nbsp;<br>3. <strong>Coral reefs<\/strong> are therefore created by <strong>millions of tiny polyps forming large carbonate structures.<\/strong><br>&#8211; <strong>Appearance: <\/strong>Corals range in color from <strong>red to purple and even blue,<\/strong> but are most commonly shades of<strong> brown and green.<\/strong><br>1. They get most of their colors from the<strong> millions of microscopic algae that grow inside each polyp\u2019s tissues.<\/strong><br>&#8211; <strong>There are three types of coral reefs \u2013<\/strong> fringing reefs, barrier reefs and atolls.&nbsp;<br>1. Fringing reefs <strong>form along shorelines, barrier reefs form in open water <\/strong>and <strong>atolls are circular reefs <\/strong>that have formed around <strong>sunken volcanoes.<\/strong><br>&#8211; <strong>Significance:<\/strong> They provide food, shelter, resting and breeding grounds to a quarter of all marine life, acting as nurseries and refuges to protect critical biodiversity.<br><strong>Coral Bleaching<\/strong><br>&#8211; Corals have adapted to <strong>survive and grow within a specific temperature range<\/strong>.<br>&#8211; <strong>Coral Bleaching<\/strong> occurs when sea temperatures rise too high and corals expel their algae, subsequently turning white.<br>&#8211; The phenomenon also occurs due to <strong>low salinity, cold waters or pollution, <\/strong>regional and global mass bleaching events.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/energy-and-environment\/philippines-pioneers-coral-larvae-cryobank-to-protect-threatened-reefs\/article70127637.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Context<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The Philippines has launched Southeast Asia\u2019s first coral larvae cryobank to preserve coral genetic diversity and protect reef ecosystems.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Coral Cryobank Initiative<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The initiative involves collaboration among research institutions in the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The objective is to freeze and preserve coral larvae, ensuring long-term protection of coral genetic diversity.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/06-10-2025\/philippines-coral-larvae-cryobank\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":56179,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/10\/philippines-coral-larvae-cryobank.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56162"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56209,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56162\/revisions\/56209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}