Why corals bleach: Neutrons show algae photosynthesis breaking down

Rising sea temperatures are causing coral reefs around the world to bleach. For the first time, a research team at the Research Neutron Source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has investigated the biological processes behind coral bleaching directly in living corals. With the help of neutrons, they were able to visualize structural changes during the bleaching process. The study is published in the Journal of Applied Crystallography.