Biology Discoveries

First comprehensive prediction that rising ocean temperatures would cause mass coral bleaching events, threatening reef ecosystems worldwide.

Discovery of thriving ecosystems around hydrothermal vents on the deep ocean floor near the Galapagos Rift, sustained by chemosynthesis rather than photosynthesis.

Isolation and characterisation of green fluorescent protein (GFP) from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria, revealing the chemistry of marine bioluminescence.

Identification of a living coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae), a fish previously known only from fossils and thought to have been extinct for 66 million years.