As Coral Reefs Vanish, Scientists Are Turning to Aquariums for Help

Project ReefLink, a nationwide community science project, invites participants to sample microbes from home and institutional aquarium corals to understand how their native microbes can confer tolerance to disease and stress

The project expands on Seed Health's ongoing partnership with The Two Frontiers Project to advance microbial research for climate innovation

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The next breakthrough in coral conservation could be hiding in your aquarium. Seed Health and The Two Frontiers Project (2FP), with support from CitSci and Coral Morphologic, today launched Project ReefLink, a nationwide community science initiative enlisting aquarium owners to help map the coral microbiome––the network of microbes essential to coral health and resilience. By mapping these microbial communities, scientists can identify the organisms that protect corals and the pathogens that threaten them, unlocking new ways to predict disease, develop microbial interventions, and help reefs survive a warming, changing ocean.

Coral reefs sustain over 25% of all marine life and provide food, income, and coastal protection for an estimated one billion people worldwide. But since the 1950s, more than half of the world's coral reefs have been lost to climate change, overfishing, and pollution, and up to 90% could disappear by 2050.

"Aquariums represent an untapped frontier for coral research—offering controlled environments where we can track coral health in ways that are challenging in the wild," said Dr. Braden Tierney, Co-Founder and Executive Director of 2FP. "That control gives us a powerful lens into the microbial mechanisms that keep corals healthy and could one day inform conservation tools ranging from early-warning systems to probiotics and other nature-based solutions."

Collected samples will undergo sequencing and analysis to identify the microbes that influence coral health and disease. Findings will contribute to 2FP's unique microbial culture bank of aquarium corals—an open-source 'living database' that could lay the groundwork for new applications to help reefs withstand bleaching, disease, and other climate-driven threats.

Supported by SeedLabs, Seed Health's environmental research division, Project ReefLink builds on the company's ongoing partnership with 2FP to explore the coral microbiome and uncover microbial candidates that could inform future solutions for reef survival. Together, the partners have conducted expeditions to sample coral and microbial life thriving around volcanic CO₂ seeps—natural laboratories where conditions mimic future ocean warming and acidification—in Sicily and Japan. Early analysis of collected samples has identified dozens of microbial consortia with traits potentially linked to coral colonization and resilience to ocean acidification.

Seed has a track record of pioneering community science initiatives that engage the public in advancing microbial research. In 2019, the company launched #GiveAShit for Science, which crowdsourced the world's largest database of stool images to destigmatize gut health and demonstrate the diagnostic potential of stool. More recently, in 2024, Seed partnered with 2FP on The Extremophile Campaign, tapping everyday environments like dishwashers, freezers, and backyard springs to uncover novel carbon-capturing microbes. Project ReefLink builds on this momentum—extending the power of community science to the coral microbiome.

"The climate crisis demands solutions from every corner of science—and some of the most transformative innovations may be hiding in places we'd never expect," said Seed Health Director of Sustainability and Impact Alison Mehlsak. "From toilets, kitchens, and backyards to aquariums and beyond, our community science initiatives show that discovery can start anywhere—and ripple outward to shape the future of our collective home."

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Seed Health is a microbiome science company pioneering clinically validated innovations for gut and whole-body health. Rooted in rigorous research and peer-reviewed studies, the company is setting new standards for efficacy, safety, and trust in the biotics category. Its flagship innovation, DS-01® Daily Synbiotic, is a pre- and probiotic studied in multiple human clinical trials and trusted by over one million people for its systemic benefits, including gut, skin, immune, and heart health. Seed's pipeline of gut-directed innovations, developed in collaboration with world-renowned researchers and clinicians, harnesses the microbiome as a driver of longevity, systemic health, and daily well-being. Grounded in the ethos that human and planetary health are interconnected, SeedLabs, the company's environmental research division, advances microbial interventions to enhance biodiversity and help restore ecosystems impacted by human activity.

SOURCE Seed Health