A recent innovation, gene chip technology (Gerhold and others 1999), should prove to be a very powerful tool in this area. This tool can be modified to address several areas pertinent to reef restoration. DNA/ DNA hybridization could be used for genotyping (DNA mapping and sequencing) to resolve questions of population structure and diversity. DNA/RNA hybridization (gene expression) analyses could identify prevailing environmental parameters or physiological conditions both on the reef and in an aquaculture facility, enabling detection of altered patterns of gene expression as early-warning indicators of stress.