Desperate US Bid to Engineer Corals for Climate Change

Nikki Traylor-Knowles takes out a rescued coral reef from a tank to study restoring Florida's coral reefs. CHANDAN KHANNA AFP
Nikki Traylor-Knowles takes out a rescued coral reef from a tank to study restoring Florida's coral reefs. CHANDAN KHANNA AFP
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Desperate US Bid to Engineer Corals for Climate Change

Nikki Traylor-Knowles takes out a rescued coral reef from a tank to study restoring Florida's coral reefs. CHANDAN KHANNA AFP
Nikki Traylor-Knowles takes out a rescued coral reef from a tank to study restoring Florida's coral reefs. CHANDAN KHANNA AFP

A bit of coral shimmers like gold in a US lab as part of urgent work to help the species protect itself from climate change, an effort even skeptical experts see as sadly justifiable.

Researchers in Florida are aiming to determine whether coral can be saved from rising water temperatures and acidification by transplanting stem cells from resistant varieties to those more vulnerable to climate impacts, AFP said.

In other words, global warming worries have reached a point that scientists are trying to tweak some organisms' genetics so that they might survive.

"Reefs are dying at an alarming rate and they are not able to keep up with climate change," Nikki Traylor-Knowles, who heads a University of Miami team working on the coral, told AFP.

"At this point, we've just got to try everything and see what works," she said before nations gathered at the COP26 summit in Glasgow -- seen as a last chance to halt catastrophic climate change.

The Florida research is one of a handful of efforts backed by Revive and Restore, a non-profit based near San Francisco that sees genetic engineering as a valuable tool for conservationists working to save plants and animals from doom.

Organisms on Earth have survived in the long run by gradually evolving, or moving to places where the land, habitat or temperature are more hospitable. Climate change is altering the environment too quickly for that to work.

"We don't have evolutionary time to help species make that kind of adaptation," Revive co-founder Ryan Phelan told AFP at a California conference.

"We're going to have to intervene, or we have to let it go," she said.

The concern for coral is particularly pressing because oceans absorb more than 90 percent of the excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions, shielding land surfaces but generating huge, long-lasting marine heatwaves.

'We may have to do it'
These are pushing many species of coral -- often dubbed the "rainforests of the oceans" for their rich biodiversity -- past their limits of tolerance.

Along with pollution and dynamite fishing, global warming wiped out 14 percent of the world's coral reefs between 2009 and 2018, according to a survey by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, the biggest ever carried out.

More than half of an $8 million Catalyst Science Fund for backing biotechnology tools to help solve conservation's most intractable problems is being poured into coral projects.

"Our thinking is the tools we develop for coral will be generalizable for other marine species," said Bridget Baumgartner, who coordinates coral projects at Revive.

"We hope we can easily translate them to problems with kelp, oysters, sea stars, what have you."

Genetic projects backed by Revive and Restore elsewhere in the United States have yielded a black-footed ferret named Elizabeth Ann, cloned from frozen cells decades old, and which could be the salvation of her species.

And a yearling called Kurt being cared for in a California zoo is a resurrected Przewalski wild horse, which had gone extinct.

Though neither are connected to climate change, the creatures' existence are key to the group's argument in favor of their genetic work.

Certainly genetic tinkering raises concerns, said Stanford University law and biosciences director Henry Greely, citing potential for deformations or an altered plant or animal causing unexpected consequences in the wild.

Yet he sees saving species, including coral, from decimation as worthy uses of the technology.

"I'm a fan of this approach, if it's done carefully, with appropriate regulation and prudence," Greely said of adding genetic technology tools to conservation efforts.

Gregory Kaebnick, a scholar at bioethics research institute The Hastings Center also supported creature-protecting tweaks, and noted the risk of a creation running amok was lower than simply failing to impart durable, effective changes.

"I'm not excited about the prospect of changing coral to let them survive, but it might be something that we have to do," he added.



Part Toy, Part Fashion, the Arrival of the Viral Labubu Was a Long Time in the Making

A person holds up Labubu dolls in a store during an organized press tour to Popland, a theme park opened by Chinese toy company Pop Mart, in Beijing, China, 02 June 2025. (EPA)
A person holds up Labubu dolls in a store during an organized press tour to Popland, a theme park opened by Chinese toy company Pop Mart, in Beijing, China, 02 June 2025. (EPA)
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Part Toy, Part Fashion, the Arrival of the Viral Labubu Was a Long Time in the Making

A person holds up Labubu dolls in a store during an organized press tour to Popland, a theme park opened by Chinese toy company Pop Mart, in Beijing, China, 02 June 2025. (EPA)
A person holds up Labubu dolls in a store during an organized press tour to Popland, a theme park opened by Chinese toy company Pop Mart, in Beijing, China, 02 June 2025. (EPA)

Labubu, the plush toy from China's Pop Mart is a social media darling, but the toothy little monsters are far from an overnight success. Having appeared a decade ago, Labubus may have finally cemented their place in the collectible toy market for years to come.

The Labubu, by artist and illustrator Kasing Lung, first appeared with pointed ears and pointy teeth, in three picture books inspired by Nordic mythology in 2015.

In 2019 Lung struck a deal with Pop Mart, a company that caters to toy connoisseurs and influencers, to sell Labubu figurines. But it wasn't until Pop Mart started selling Labubu plush toys on key rings in 2023 that the toothy monsters suddenly seemed to be everywhere, including in the hands of Rihanna, Kim Kardashian and NBA star Dillon Brooks. K-pop singer Lisa of Blackpink began posting images of hers for her more than 100 million followers on Instagram and on TikTok, where Labubu pandemonium has broken out.

There are 1.4 million #Labubu TikTok posts and counting, videos of fans unboxing them, showing styles inspired by them, and of course, Labubu cosplay.

Fans have latched on to Labubu’s mashup of play and fashion, making them accessories on handbags, backpacks and belts, or hanging them from car mirrors.

“The character has evolved into a collectible and style symbol, resonating with fans who connect with its quirky aesthetic and unique backstory,” Emily Brough, Popmart’s head of IP licensing in the Americas, said.

Labubu has been a bonanza for Pop Mart. Its revenue more than doubled in 2024 to 13.04 billion yuan ($1.81 billion), thanks in part to its elvish monster. Revenue from Pop Mart's plush toys soared more than 1,200% in 2024, nearly 22% of its overall revenue, according to the company's annual report.

Aside from their ability to pique the interest of toy aficionados and fashionistas, Labubu latched on to the blind box phenomenon, where the purchaser doesn't know exactly which version of the plush toy they'll get.

And Pop Mart made sure there is a Labubu for everyone, regardless of income. Most are priced in a wide rage between $20 and $300, with certain collaborations or limited editions priced higher, according to Brough.

Unlike many toys, Labubu devotees include a large number of adults. Buyers ages 18 and over drove a year-over-year increase of more than $800 million in the US toy market in 2024, according to market research firm Circana. Adult shoppers, mostly female, bought the toys for themselves. In 2025's first quarter, toy sales for those ages 18 and over rose 12% from the prior-year period. At $1.8 billion, adults also accounted for the highest spending among all age groups in the quarter.

Like many retailers, Pop Mart is actively monitoring negotiations between the US and just about every one of its trading partners as prices may be impacted. The situation with China is at the forefront, with President Donald Trump saying on Friday that the country “violated” an agreement with the United States on trade talks.

Right now Pop Mart, whose products are manufactured across Asia, says that it is continuously scaling production and expanding distribution across its online shop, retail stores and blind box vending machines to meet increasing demand.

Short supply has led to long lines at stores and at least one physical fight at a shopping center in the United Kingdom. Pop Mart said in an Instagram post late last month that it was temporarily suspending all in-store and blind box machine sales in the UK Peter Shipman, head of Europe, said in a Facebook post that the company is currently working on a new method to distribute toys to stores.

Resellers have become problematic and many Labubu fans are still willing to pay exorbitant price markups.

Kena Flynn was at The Grove shopping center in Los Angeles recently when she stumbled upon some Labubus being sold at a kiosk. Flynn said in a TikTok on Sunday that the prices were “really bad,” but her boyfriend bought two anyway.

“At a certain point, you can’t buy them,” Flynn said in her video. “I just want a Labubu and I cannot buy one from Pop Mart, so here we are.”

Looking to keep up with the overwhelming demand, Pop Mart says it's on track for 50 more retail locations in the US by the end of the year. That'll give shoppers more chances to hunt for Labubus, as Pop Mart says it's planning multiple new Labubu releases tied to seasonal moments and holidays throughout the rest of the year.