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Read our latest storiesProtecting industry and ecosystems
In the early 2000s, the Sydney rock oyster industry was at risk of being wiped out by disease. Today, the industry has not only survived but grown and diversified.
The importance of oyster resilience
Macquarie University researchers have worked with the NSW Department of Primary Industries to better understand oyster genetics and make the state’s largest aquaculture industry sustainable.
Besides being New South Wales’ largest aquaculture industry, oysters are instrumental in forming estuarine ecosystems, such as that in the Sydney Harbour and the Hawkesbury River.
Our impact
Macquarie’s team, led by Professor David Raftos, discovered a set of genes in oysters that allows them to survive disease and tolerate environmental changes.