From Technology Review, new applications of genomics tools, in this case microarray technology, to model the effects of climate change on marine species at the gene expression level:
Using novel genomic technology, marine biologists have found troubling
clues that marine life could be extremely vulnerable to climate change.
By mimicking future ocean climes and using gene chips to detect how
marine organisms respond, the researchers can evaluate how well
different organisms deal with environmental stress. The findings, while
still preliminary and incomplete, are worrisome...
...So far, the team has focused its attention on a set of proteins, known
as heat-shock proteins, which kick in when an animal is under stress.
Almost all animals carry copies of these proteins, which can repair
other proteins that have been bent out of shape by heat and additional
environmental stresses. According to early results from gene-chip
studies, sea-urchin larvae raised at current carbon levels activate
their heat-shock proteins when faced with warming water temperatures.
But larvae raised at the best-case-scenario carbon level no longer
activate these genes under stress and therefore can't respond to a
warming climate. "I don't want to say we will lose all sea urchins,"
says Hoffman. "But there will be some part of the population that can't
develop."...
...Although it's hard to predict exactly how that loss will affect the
environment, it's likely to change the structure of the entire
ecosystem. Without algae-eating urchins, "you might predict that algae
will become dominant in a particular area, which then might affect
availability of fish that live there, which could affect the fishing
industry or even tourism," Hoffman says.
While illuminating some of the useful applications of genomics to conservation, I find this article a bit alarmist. As pointed out by a commenter on the article, sea urchins have faced warmer oceans in the past and survived. There will be transition and loss, and a new equilibrium. The key point for we humans is whether the transition and new equilibrium significantly affects us, and how.