Inheritance Inheritance. Metachromatic leukodystrophy is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. This means that both copies of the disease-causing gene in each cell must have a mutation for an individual to be affected. Individuals inherit two copies of each gene - one copy from each parent.
Crown-of-thorns starfish. Crown-of-thorns starfish are one of the most damaging creatures of tropical coral reefs, particularly Australia's Great Barrier Reef. They are voracious predators that release the contents of their stomach on to the coral.
Aerial views of The Great Barrier Reef are seen from above on August 7, 2009 in Cairns, Australia. GREAT BARRIER REEF, Australia A writer has declared the Great Barrier Reef in Australia officially dead after a story in September said that the bleaching of the reef's coral this year has caused it to decline. ABC News in Australia reported last month that bleaching had killed 35 percent of coral in the central and northern parts of the reef.