In coral reefs, tissue loss diseases are widely spread. Treatment options are available but vary in their effectiveness and might have an impact on their surroundings. Now, researchers have tested an alternative to antibiotic treatments and showed that a chlorine and cocoa butter paste mix is effective at containing stony coral tissue loss disease. This non-antibiotic treatment could be a first step to improve environmental conditions in reefs, which ultimately could lead to corals being able to fight pathogens without treatment.

A new study highlights how some marine life could face extinction over the next century, if human-induced global warming worsens. 

The protein in sea lettuce, a type of seaweed, is a promising complement to both meat and other current alternative protein sources. Seaweed also contains many other important nutrients, and is grown without needing to be watered, fertilised or sprayed with insecticides. However, the proteins are often tightly bound, and their full potential has not yet been realised on our plates.  But now researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, in Sweden, have found a new way to extract these proteins three times more efficiently than before – and this progress paves the way for seaweed burgers and protein smoothies from the sea.

Through lipidomic and proteomic analyses, this study reveals how the Mariana Trench snailfish adapts to extreme deep-sea conditions. Findings highlight the fish’s unique lipid regulation, energy storage, and antioxidant mechanisms that enable survival under high pressure and low temperatures.