A dual-pronged, multi-layered approach to increase coral resilience against rising ocean temperature and disease has won NYU Abu Dhabi the prestigious gold medal and a nomination for Best Conservation Project at this year’s iGEM competition in Paris.
The project, named “Reeform — Engineering the Coral Microbiome” also placed the team among the top three in both undergraduate and overgraduate categories, a testament to their innovative approach and impactful contribution to coral conservation.
Known as “rainforests of the sea,” coral reefs cover over 284,300 square kilometers of ocean surface and support a quarter of all marine life. The UAE hosts some of the world's most unique, heat-tolerant coral ecosystems, with Arabian Gulf corals enduring summer temperatures of 36 degrees Celsius or higher. However, rising ocean temperatures, pollution, and disease threaten coral reefs worldwide, with extinction possible by 2070. Concerns recently intensified when UAE scientists reported a significant coral bleaching event along the country’s coastline this summer, highlighting the need for conservation solutions like those the iGEM team has developed.
By focusing on stable partnerships between coral and their symbiotic organisms, Reeform hopes to develop corals that can tolerate heat and resist diseases, including those caused by the harmful marine bacteria Vibrio coralliilyticus. Through advanced lab techniques, the team has limited the growth of these harmful bacteria in a controlled setting, marking a significant step in coral protection. Moving forward, the team will work to boost the coral's resilience by producing special proteins that help the coral handle heat and stress, giving coral reefs a better chance to survive in changing oceans.
The project is led by Principal Investigators: Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Bioengineering Yong-Ak (Rafael) Song, Assistant Professor of Bioengineering and Electrical Engineering Andras Gygory, Instructor of Biology Ibrahim Chehade, and instructor of Bioengineering Shafiya Sabah. The team’s student leaders include Fatma Alrebh, Afomia Mengistu, and Sevinch Rakhmon-Zoda, supported by members Sanshika Garg, Abdullah Salman, Diana Alibekova, Mandy Liao, Heesung Tae, Jheel Thanki, Milena Bisenic, and Aknur Kassym.
NYU Abu Dhabi Class of 2024 student Fatma Alrebh said, "Our commitment to tackling coral bleaching, an issue we care deeply about, motivated us to see the project through and placed us among the top three teams in the conservation track. This recognition from iGEM reinforces the need for innovative solutions to conservation challenges and inspires us to push the boundaries of synthetic biology even further."
This year’s iGEM competition brought together over 400 teams from more than 45 countries, each presenting synthetic biology solutions to critical challenges in healthcare, environmental protection, and technology.
