‘Incredible’: bleached corals thrive within days when touching healthy neighbour | Nature (https://www.nature.com/nature.rss) (https://cmp.nature.com) (https://www.nature.com/oscar-static/css/grade-c-dfe7db1fb5.css) (https://www.nature.com/oscar-static/fonts/HardingText-Regular-Web-cecd90984f.woff2) (https://www.nature.com/oscar-static/css/magazine-nature-branded-a60cdbe69a.css) (https://www.nature.com/oscar-static/css/magazine-print-426e1f8983.css) (https://www.nature.com/oscar-static/images/favicons/nature/apple-touch-icon-f39cb19454.png) (https://www.nature.com/oscar-static/images/favicons/nature/favicon-48x48-b52890008c.png) (https://www.nature.com/oscar-static/images/favicons/nature/favicon-32x32-3fe59ece92.png) (https://www.nature.com/oscar-static/images/favicons/nature/favicon-16x16-951651ab72.png) (https://www.nature.com/oscar-static/manifest.json) (https://www.nature.com/oscar-static/images/favicons/nature/safari-pinned-tab-e836a84dfc.svg) (https://www.nature.com/oscar-static/images/favicons/nature/favicon.ico) (https://www.nature.com/search) (https://www.nature.com/opensearch/opensearch.xml) (nature.com) (https://www.nature.com/opensearch/request) (nature.com) (d41586-026-03266-x.html) (d41586-026-03266-x.html#content) Skip to main content Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript. Advertisement (https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?iu=/285/nature.com/article&sz=728x90&c=1687409031&t=pos%3Dtop%26type%3Darticle%26artid%3Dd41586-026-03266-x%26doi%3D10.1038/d41586-026-03266-x%26subjmeta%3D106,326,631,685,694,704,844%26kwrd%3DMicrobiology,Sustainability,Climate+change) (Advertisement) (https://www.nature.com/) (Nature) (https://www.nature.com/siteindex) View all journals (https://www.nature.com/saved-research) Saved research (d41586-026-03266-x.html#search-menu) Search (https://idp.nature.com/auth/personal/springernature?redirect_uri=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-03266-x) Log in (d41586-026-03266-x.html#explore) Content Explore content (d41586-026-03266-x.html#about-the-journal) About the journal (d41586-026-03266-x.html#publish-with-us) Publish with us (https://www.nature.com/nature/subscribe) Subscribe (https://journal-alerts.springernature.com/subscribe?journal_id=41586) Sign up for alerts (https://www.nature.com/nature.rss) RSS feed (https://www.nature.com/) nature (https://www.nature.com/nature/articles?type=news) news article NEWS 14 October 2026 ‘Incredible’: bleached corals thrive within days when touching healthy neighbour A coral fragment can form a tissue bridge with a dying counterpart — and provide it with crucial microalgae. By (d41586-026-03266-x.html#author-0) Sarah Wild (d41586-026-03266-x.html#Aff0) 0 Sarah Wild Sarah Wild is a freelance journalist in Canterbury, UK. (https://www.nature.com/search?author=Sarah+Wild) View author publications Search author on: (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=search&term=Sarah+Wild) PubMed (https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?as_q=&btnG=Search+Scholar&as_sauthors=%22Sarah%2BWild%22) Google Scholar (mailto:?subject=‘Incredible’: bleached corals thrive within days when touching healthy neighbour&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-026-03266-x) Email (https://bsky.app/intent/compose?text=%E2%80%98Incredible%E2%80%99%3A+bleached+corals+thrive+within+days+when+touching+healthy+neighbour https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-026-03266-x) Bluesky (https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-026-03266-x&t=%E2%80%98Incredible%E2%80%99%3A+bleached+corals+thrive+within+days+when+touching+healthy+neighbour) Facebook (https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?text=%E2%80%98Incredible%E2%80%99%3A+bleached+corals+thrive+within+days+when+touching+healthy+neighbour&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-026-03266-x) LinkedIn (https://www.reddit.com/submit?title=%E2%80%98Incredible%E2%80%99%3A+bleached+corals+thrive+within+days+when+touching+healthy+neighbour&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-026-03266-x) Reddit (https://wa.me/?text=%E2%80%98Incredible%E2%80%99%3A+bleached+corals+thrive+within+days+when+touching+healthy+neighbour https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-026-03266-x) Whatsapp (https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%E2%80%98Incredible%E2%80%99%3A+bleached+corals+thrive+within+days+when+touching+healthy+neighbour&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-026-03266-x) X (V5vwNJvpuTY36DFx3XfE4ohv7Yc9uhFD) Save article (https://www.nature.com/saved-research) View saved research (Short video sequence showing the fusion of a healthy coral and a bleached coral in a laboratory set-up over 9 weeks.) This video shows a bleached coral fragment brought back to health within weeks through fusion with a vibrant fragment from the same individual. Credit: Danny Collins Scientists have rapidly restored bleached coral in a laboratory by placing it in contact with a healthy fragment, giving hope for reversing widespread coral decline. Rising sea temperatures are stressing corals, causing the animals to expel the symbiotic algae that live in their tissues and give them their colour — a process known as bleaching. Because the photosynthetic algae (Symbiodiniaceae) provide corals with most of their nutrients, without them, the marine organisms are likely to starve and die. A team of researchers has now shown that it is possible to fully reverse this bleaching process, in just days. It reported the findings in Science Advances on 14 October(d41586-026-03266-x.html#ref-CR1) 1 . “This incredible new result — that fast and full recovery is possible in bleached coral — can inspire solutions that eventually may be scalable,” says Fiorenza Micheli, a marine ecologist at Stanford University’s Center for Ocean Solutions in California and a co-author on the study. The healing touch In early 2025, marine scientist, and study co-author, Stephen Palumbi at Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove, California, was working in the lab and noticed that two coral fragments in a tank were accidentally touching. Where the healthy and bleached fragment met, colour had begun to seep into the ghostly branch. “I’d never seen that before,” he remembers. (Composite image showing early-stage recovery, showing the symbionts spreading from the healthy coral into the bleached coral.) Symbionts spread from the healthy into the bleached coral. Credit: Danny Collins Danny Collins, who was studying how disease spreads through coral contact as part of his PhD at Stanford, set out to investigate whether algae can also spread and, if so, how. He prepared ten pairs of coral fragments from the same animal (Pocillopora damicornis )., Each pair had a bleached and a healthy fragment. He set up five pairs so that their fragments touched each other, and five with their fragments separated by a few millimetres. In the touching pairs, the bleached coral recovered within eight weeks. “We were blown away when we watched the colour of the algal symbionts transfer over to the bleached coral, reviving it in a very short period of time,” Collins says. By week two, the symbiont population was doubling every four days, which is much faster than the recovery times seen in studies of coral recovering naturally in the wild(d41586-026-03266-x.html#ref-CR2) 2 , (d41586-026-03266-x.html#ref-CR3) 3 . After touching the healthy fragment for a week, a bleached branch could fully recover on its own, even if separated from the healthy branch. In the slightly separated pairs, the bleached fragments died after 20 weeks. Using high-powered microscopy, the team showed that two coral fragments fuse together by creating a tissue bridge — enabling symbiont transfer. This only occurred for coral fragments taken from an individual of the same genetic make-up, called a genet. Fragments from different species and even different animals of the same species did not fuse together, and so did not nurse the bleached piece back to health. Enjoying our latest content? Log in or create an account to continue Access the most recent journalism from Nature's award-winning team Explore the latest features & opinion covering groundbreaking research (https://wayf.springernature.com?redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-026-03266-x) Access through your institution or (https://idp.nature.com/auth/personal/springernature?client_id=grover&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-026-03266-x) Sign in or create an account (https://idp.nature.com/auth/personal/springernature?client_id=grover&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-026-03266-x) () Continue with Google (https://idp.nature.com/auth/personal/springernature?client_id=grover&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-026-03266-x) () Continue with ORCiD doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-03266-x References Collins, D. S. et al. Sci. Adv. 12 , eaeh1580 (2026). (https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fsciadv.aeh1580) Article (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=42873873) PubMed (http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?&title=Rapid%20coral%20bleaching%20recovery%20via%20symbiont%20transfer%20from%20healthy%20corals&journal=Sci.%20Adv.&doi=10.1126%2Fsciadv.aeh1580&volume=12&publication_year=2026&author=Collins%2CD.%20S.) Google Scholar Cunning, R.et al. PLoS ONE 10 , e0145099 (2015). (https://doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0145099) Article (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=26713847) PubMed (http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?&title=&journal=PLoS%20ONE&doi=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0145099&volume=10&publication_year=2015&author=Cunning%2CR.) Google Scholar Jones, R. J. & Yellowlees, D. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 352 , 457–468 (1997). (https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frstb.1997.0033) Article (http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?&title=&journal=Phil.%20Trans.%20R.%20Soc.%20B&doi=10.1098%2Frstb.1997.0033&volume=352&pages=457-468&publication_year=1997&author=Jones%2CR.%20J.&author=Yellowlees%2CD.) Google Scholar (https://citation-needed.springer.com/v2/references/10.1038/d41586-026-03266-x?format=refman&flavour=references) Download references (https://s100.copyright.com/AppDispatchServlet?title=%E2%80%98Incredible%E2%80%99%3A%20bleached%20corals%20thrive%20within%20days%20when%20touching%20healthy%20neighbour&author=Sarah%20Wild&contentID=10.1038%2Fd41586-026-03266-x©right=Springer%20Nature%20Limited&publication=&publicationDate=2026-10-14&publisherName=SpringerNature&orderBeanReset=true) Reprints and permissions Related Articles (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03316-w) () Coral die-off marks Earth’s first climate ‘tipping point’, scientists say (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00102-y) () Can foreign coral save a dying reef? Radical idea sparks debate (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02271-8) () Striking images show plastic litter in the world’s most remote coral reefs (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02449-w) () A ‘super’ El Niño could transform the Amazon. Is the world’s biggest rainforest doomed? (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00936-0) () Deep dive: How I use robots to survey coral reefs (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01538-0) () Are we really headed for a ‘super’ El Niño? What the science says (https://www.nature.com/news/marine-ecologists-take-to-the-skies-to-study-coral-reefs-1.20004) () Marine ecologists take to the skies to study coral reefs Subjects (https://www.nature.com/subjects/microbiology) Microbiology (https://www.nature.com/subjects/sustainability) Sustainability (https://www.nature.com/subjects/climate-change) Climate change Latest on: (d41586-026-03266-x.html#latest-content-0-container) Microbiology (d41586-026-03266-x.html#latest-content-1-container) Sustainability (d41586-026-03266-x.html#latest-content-2-container) Climate change (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-11250-8) Antiviral immunity via telomerase-like reverse transcription in bacteria Article 12 OCT 26 (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-03215-8) () Plague scare: what scientists know, and what Russia won’t say News Q&A 08 OCT 26 (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-11106-1) () Prehistoric global migration of vanishing gut microbes with humans Article 07 OCT 26 (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-03245-2) Decentralized AI needs more evidence on energy use Correspondence 13 OCT 26 (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-03246-1) When microbes degrade plastic, where does it go? Correspondence 13 OCT 26 (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-03023-0) () Chemists struggle to ditch hazardous solvents — even after decades of ‘green’ efforts News 25 SEP 26 (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-11126-x) () Advancing subseasonal forecasting with machine learning Article 14 OCT 26 (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-03219-4) () Protecting nature means valuing biodiversity Editorial 14 OCT 26 (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-11115-0) () Evaluating space-based methane detection through a one-year blind test Article 14 OCT 26 (Nature Careers) (https://www.nature.com/naturecareers/) Jobs (https://www.nature.com/naturecareers/job/12865818/postdoctoral-fellow-position-cancer-immunotherapies/?TrackID=62&utm_source=widget&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=62) Postdoctoral Fellow Position – Cancer Immunotherapies Postdoctoral Fellow Position to study Cancer Immunology & design novel Cancer Immunotherapies @ University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore. 21201, Baltimore University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore () (https://www.nature.com/naturecareers/job/12865787/publishing-assistant-oa-journals-medicine-and-biomedicine/?TrackID=62&utm_source=widget&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=62) Publishing Assistant, OA Journals Medicine and Biomedicine The role of Publishing Assistant is wide-ranging and essential to the smooth running of the journal portfolios. Beijing or London - hybrid working model Springer Nature Ltd () (https://www.nature.com/naturecareers/job/12864473/faculty-positions-life-science-and-technology-/?TrackID=62&utm_source=widget&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=62) Faculty Positions (Life Science and Technology) The School of Life Science and Technology (SLST) invites applications for numerous tenure-track and tenured positions. Shanghai (CN) ShanghaiTech University () (https://www.nature.com/naturecareers/job/12865748/department-of-nuclear-medicine-and-theranostics-and-the-department-of-radiological-sciences/?TrackID=62&utm_source=widget&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=62) Department of Nuclear Medicine and Theranostics and the Department of Radiological Sciences The Department of Nuclear Medicine and Theranostics and the Department of Radiological Sciences, Oncology Section, at UCLA are jointly recruiting Los Angeles, California University of California Los Angeles () (https://www.nature.com/naturecareers/job/12865718/t-tt-faculty-position-materials-science-and-engineering/?TrackID=62&utm_source=widget&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=62) T/TT Faculty Position - Materials Science & Engineering The Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE), College of Engineering, University of Michigan, seeks outstanding applicants for a tenur... Ann Arbor, Michigan University of Michigan - MSE () Related Articles (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03316-w) () Coral die-off marks Earth’s first climate ‘tipping point’, scientists say (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00102-y) () Can foreign coral save a dying reef? Radical idea sparks debate (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02271-8) () Striking images show plastic litter in the world’s most remote coral reefs (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02449-w) () A ‘super’ El Niño could transform the Amazon. Is the world’s biggest rainforest doomed? (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00936-0) () Deep dive: How I use robots to survey coral reefs (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01538-0) () Are we really headed for a ‘super’ El Niño? What the science says (https://www.nature.com/news/marine-ecologists-take-to-the-skies-to-study-coral-reefs-1.20004) () Marine ecologists take to the skies to study coral reefs Subjects (https://www.nature.com/subjects/microbiology) Microbiology (https://www.nature.com/subjects/sustainability) Sustainability (https://www.nature.com/subjects/climate-change) Climate change (https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?iu=/285/nature.com/article&sz=300x250&c=-2015346801&t=pos%3Dright%26type%3Darticle%26artid%3Dd41586-026-03266-x%26doi%3D10.1038/d41586-026-03266-x%26subjmeta%3D106,326,631,685,694,704,844%26kwrd%3DMicrobiology,Sustainability,Climate+change) (Advertisement) Sign up to Nature Briefing An essential round-up of science news, opinion and analysis, delivered to your inbox every weekday. (DirectEmailBox-sidebar) (DirectEmailBox) (false) (false) (false) (BriefingBox) Email address () (e.g. jo.smith@university.ac.uk) (true) (true) Yes! Sign me up to receive the daily Nature Briefing email. I agree my information will be processed in accordance with the Nature and Springer Nature Limited (https://www.nature.com/info/privacy) Privacy Policy . Sign up Explore content (https://www.nature.com/nature/research-articles) Research articles (https://www.nature.com/news) News (https://www.nature.com/opinion) Opinion (https://www.nature.com/research-analysis) Research Analysis (https://www.nature.com/careers) Careers (https://www.nature.com/books-culture) Books & Culture (https://www.nature.com/nature/podcasts) Podcasts (https://www.nature.com/nature/videos) Videos (https://www.nature.com/nature/current-issue) Current issue (https://www.nature.com/nature/browse-issues) Browse issues (https://www.nature.com/nature/collections) Collections (https://www.nature.com/nature/browse-subjects) Subjects (https://www.facebook.com/Nature) Follow us on Facebook (https://bsky.app/profile/nature.com) Follow us on Bluesky (https://twitter.com/nature) Follow us on X (https://www.nature.com/nature/subscribe) Subscribe (https://journal-alerts.springernature.com/subscribe?journal_id=41586) Sign up for alerts (https://www.nature.com/nature.rss) RSS feed About the journal (https://www.nature.com/nature/journal-staff) Journal Staff (https://www.nature.com/nature/research-cross-journal-editorial-team) Research Cross-Journal Editorial Team (https://www.nature.com/nature/editors) Editors (https://www.nature.com/nature/journal-information) Journal Information (https://www.nature.com/nature/journal-impact) Journal Metrics (https://www.nature.com/nature/our-publishing-models) Our publishing models (https://www.nature.com/nature/editorial-values-statement) Editorial Values Statement (https://www.nature.com/nature/editorial-policies) Editorial policies (https://www.nature.com/nature/journalistic-principles) Journalistic Principles (https://www.nature.com/nature/history-of-nature) History of Nature (https://www.nature.com/nature/awards) Awards (https://www.nature.com/nature/contact) Contact (https://www.nature.com/nature/send-a-news-tip) Send a news tip Publish with us (https://www.nature.com/nature/for-authors) For Authors (https://www.nature.com/nature/for-referees) For Referees (https://authorservices.springernature.com/go/sn/?utm_source=For+Authors&utm_medium=Website_Nature&utm_campaign=Platform+Experimentation+2022&utm_id=PE2022) Language editing services (https://www.nature.com/nature/open-access-funding) Open access funding (https://mts-nature.nature.com/) Submit manuscript Search Search articles by subject, keyword or author () Show results from () All journals (nature) This journal Search (https://www.nature.com/search/advanced) Advanced search Quick links (https://www.nature.com/subjects) Explore articles by subject (https://www.nature.com/naturecareers) Find a job (https://www.nature.com/authors/index.html) Guide to authors (https://www.nature.com/authors/editorial_policies/) Editorial policies Nature (Nature ) (International Standard Serial Number) ISSN 1476-4687 (online) (International Standard Serial Number) ISSN 0028-0836 (print) nature.com footer links About Nature Portfolio (https://www.nature.com/npg_/company_info/index.html) About us (https://www.nature.com/npg_/press_room/press_releases.html) Press releases (https://press.nature.com/) Press office (https://support.nature.com/support/home) Contact us Discover content (https://www.nature.com/siteindex) Journals A-Z (https://www.nature.com/subjects) Articles by subject (https://www.protocols.io/) protocols.io (https://www.natureindex.com/) Nature Index Publishing policies (https://www.nature.com/authors/editorial_policies) Nature portfolio policies (https://www.nature.com/nature-portfolio/for-authors/openaccess) Open access Author & Researcher services (https://www.nature.com/reprints) Reprints & permissions (https://www.springernature.com/gp/authors/research-data) Research data (https://authorservices.springernature.com/language-editing/) Language editing (https://authorservices.springernature.com/scientific-editing/) Scientific editing (https://masterclasses.nature.com/) Nature Masterclasses (https://solutions.springernature.com/) Research Solutions Libraries & institutions (https://www.springernature.com/gp/librarians/tools-services) Librarian service & tools (https://www.springernature.com/gp/librarians/manage-your-account/librarianportal) Librarian portal (https://www.nature.com/openresearch/about-open-access/information-for-institutions) Open research (https://www.springernature.com/gp/librarians/recommend-to-your-library) Recommend to library Advertising & partnerships (https://partnerships.nature.com/product/digital-advertising/) Advertising (https://partnerships.nature.com/) Partnerships & Services (https://partnerships.nature.com/media-kits/) Media kits (https://partnerships.nature.com/product/branded-content-native-advertising/) Branded content Professional development (https://www.nature.com/immersive/natureawards/index.html) Nature Awards (https://www.nature.com/naturecareers/) Nature Careers (https://conferences.nature.com) Nature Conferences Regional websites (https://www.nature.com/natafrica) Nature Africa (http://www.naturechina.com) Nature China (https://www.nature.com/nindia) Nature India (https://www.natureasia.com/ja-jp) Nature Japan (https://www.nature.com/nmiddleeast) Nature Middle East (https://www.nature.com/info/privacy) Privacy Policy (https://www.nature.com/info/cookies) Use of cookies Your privacy choices/Manage cookies (https://www.nature.com/info/legal-notice) Legal notice (https://www.nature.com/info/accessibility-statement) Accessibility statement (https://www.nature.com/info/terms-and-conditions) Terms & Conditions (https://www.springernature.com/ccpa) Your US state privacy rights (https://www.springernature.com/) (Springer Nature) © 2026 Springer Nature Limited Close banner Close (Nature Briefing Microbiology) Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Microbiology newsletter — what matters in microbiology research, free to your inbox weekly. (MicrobiologyBriefingBanner) (DirectEmailBanner) (false) (false) (false) (MicrobiologyBriefingBanner) Email address () (e.g. jo.smith@university.ac.uk) (true) Sign up (true) I agree my information will be processed in accordance with the Nature and Springer Nature Limited (https://www.nature.com/info/privacy) Privacy Policy . Close banner Close Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. (https://www.nature.com/briefing/microbiology/?brieferEntryPoint=MicrobiologyBriefingBanner) Sign up for Nature Briefing: Microbiology