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.
Coral reefs are sometimes considered the medicine cabinets of the 21st century. Coral reef plants and animals are important sources of new medicines being developed to treat cancer, arthritis, human bacterial infections, Alzheimerâs disease, heart disease, viruses, and other diseases. Since corals are stationary animals, many have evolved chemical defenses to protect themselves from predators.