For the first time in Europe, coral researchers have successfully fertilized coral eggs using frozen and thawed sperm. Spectacular images of coral spawning shed new light on the role of cryopreservation in advancing coral restoration efforts.
When corals spawn, they release small bundles of eggs and sperm into the water. To fertilize, each egg bundle must find a sperm bundle of the same species. A team from London’s Horniman Museum recreated this process in a laboratory aquarium, replicating daily water temperatures and the rising and setting of the sun and moon to trick the corals…