Researchers have long suspected that an ingredient in sunscreen called oxybenzone was harming corals, but no one knew how. A new study shows how corals turn oxybenzone into a sunlight-activated toxin.

Scientists have documented examples of corals “remembering” prior exposure to heat stress in the field, and are now simulating these phenomena in the lab to better understand their cellular and molecular underpinnings.

Beyond The Scientist’s coverage of COVID-19’s molecular underpinnings were many other stories highlighting the advances made in scientists’ understanding of the biology of cells.

Lab-grown cells from the reef-building coral Acropora tenuis provide new opportunities to study bleaching, symbioses, and biomineralization.

Stable, long-term cell lines will enable scientists to study everything from coral bleaching to biomineralization, knowledge that may help protect corals from ongoing climate change.

Single-cell RNA sequencing helps to catalog the dozens of cell types present in a stony coral, including its elusive immune cells.

In yellow-green and purple versions of the reef-building Acropora tenuis, the genes that code for particular fluorescent and other colorful proteins become more active in the summer, protecting symbiotic algae from thermal stress and resisting bleaching.

Scientists who study the marine ecosystems have frequently failed to involve local researchers in projects, a study finds.

By growing mountainous star corals in the lab and outplanting them to dying reefs, we were able to grow sexually mature corals that could help reef recovery.

Novel technologies establish a new paradigm for global coral reef restoration, with in situ spawning of mature, environmentally resilient corals in five years instead of decades.

Our novel technique involves planting several small fragments of slow-growing corals onto dead coral heads. The fragments eventually fuse, forming a large colony in a fraction of the time that it takes wild corals to build reefs.

Anemones keep their algae populations in check.

From bubbling plants to endangered whales, here are some amazing images from The Scientist in 2019.

View the top three winners of this year’s Nikon Small World in Motion Competition.

A mysterious illness is causing tissue loss in many species.

Some corals can adjust to a range of temperatures, but this ability may be limited in a consistently warmer environment.

Groups of corals release all of their eggs and sperm once a year, but the timing of their spawning is under threat from climate change.

Mycale grandis teams up with microbes housed inside it to gather nutrients.

Runoff and waste may be more harmful to the animals than climate change.