WASHINGTON: Taronga Western Plains Zoo reproductive natural scientist Rebecca Hobbs explained her work as “an insurance against disaster”.
Dr Hobbs is working on the Reef Recovery Program researching coral reproduction to protect the Great Barrier Reef.
Three trillion sperm cells are currently in her care, frozen at around -190 degrees in two chambers of liquid nitrogen at the zoo.
Dr Hobbs said she joined the Reef Recovery Program 18 months ago and collected the sperm samples during the spawning in November.
She said the first job was to prove frozen sperm could be used to reproduce with fresh eggs. The research found that while the fertility rate was lower, the embryos still formed successfully.
Now Dr Hobbs and her colleagues are conducting further experiments into coral embryos and frozen eggs to push the knowledge of coral reproduction further.
The research could all be used to help regenerate the Great Barrier Reef against a disaster.
Dr Hobbs said a colleague of hers was working in Hawaii where a significant portion of the coral has been affected by bleaching due to a hot summer.
“The coral’s not dead yet, but it’s pretty sick and quite likely to die,” she said.
Bleaching is just one of the events Dr Hobbs and other scientists are working against. Climate change, water acidification and sediment can also impact the reef.
“The corals that we’ve frozen so far are reef building corals, the ones that are going to bring structure to the reef,” she said.
Dr Hobbs said the 11 different species differ in shape, size and function to ensure variety.
She said while there would always be a proportion kept for insurance, some of the sperm would also be available for research activities to learn more about what can be done.
Experiments have shown frozen sperm can successfully fertilise fresh eggs, but Dr Hobbs said research was also looking into frozen eggs.
She said eggs were more difficult to freeze due to their larger size and the higher levels of fat and water.
“It’s not only the freezing process that is a concern but also unfreezing without ice crystals forming
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