From the Bottom of the Sea to the Operating Table

Corals are marine magicians. As colonies of the tiny ocean organisms grow, they transform the calcium that circulates in seawater into enormous limestone reefs. These reefs—which can extend for more than 1,000 miles and provide homes for crabs, eels, sea horses, and other aquatic creatures—are counted among the world’s great natural wonders.

In the late 1960s, a pair of scientists at Pennsylvania State University decided to use a new, high-powered microscope to take a closer look at these remarkable coralline structures. What the two saw would launch an interdisciplinary team on a research odyssey from the shallow, tropical waters of the South Pacific to the modern hospital operating room, where their discovery is now helping surgeons repair patients’ damaged bones.

In 2012, the members of that team were given Golden