Return to Coral Biobank Alliance Home


Coral Biobank Alliance members are working collaboratively to share and standardize methods used to preserve coral genetic diversity for conservation and restoration. Currently, the methods used by our members include:

  • Coral collection from reefs (with appropriate government permits)
  • Coral colony maintenance in breeding systems, including in remote areas
  • Long-distance shipping of coral colonies
  • Coral health and growth monitoring
  • Ex-situ coral conservation through preserving living coral biodiversity in state-of-the-art ex situ “coral ark” facilities
  • Genetics: Metatranscriptomics, metagenomics,16S (microbiome), genetic management planning
  • Breeding: Collecting gametes from broodstock and combining them in different genetic crosses with the goal of fostering species resilience with hundreds to thousands of diverse offspring
  • Cryopreservation of coral sperm so they can be used later for breeding or genetic studies
  • Targeting resilient broodstock: Integrating corals that are more resistant to known stressors than other genotypes in addition to facilitating and promoting genetic diversity