But since 1994, something has been killing off the akoyas of Ago Bay, the heart of Japan's cultured-pearl business ... deadly to the oysters. Named for the discolored water created by the presence ...

"I'm eating the oyster and I go 'Oh my god, my tooth came out!'" Bryant said. "Then, she's like 'Mom really, that's a pearl'...It's like one in 10,000 chances of this happening." She's right.

This taken in August 2023 shows Gu Zhifeng, a professor at Hainan University, and other researchers about to set the ...