Coral sperm and eggs frozen for preservation

Coral spawn event

A sperm bank for coral. That's the idea at the heart of a pioneering project entering a new phase this weekend to help preserve the biodiversity of the Great Barrier Reef.


Dr Rebecca Spindler says half of the reef's coral has been destroyed in the past 30 years and she eventually hopes the technology will be used to restore the reef.

The sperm bank will use IVF technology to cryo-preserve, or freeze, sperm from coral on the reef and save it for the future. Eventually, scientists hope to grow the corals out onto the reef.

If you think about the Great Barrier Reef as a piece of cloth, it looks a little bit like lacework right now because there are so many localised threats. There are degraded areas, there are areas that have been subject to threats that are stopping those areas functioning. If we can restore those areas, reseed those areas and restore function to the reef as a whole, overall it will be more resilient.