When it comes to saving endangered species, zookeepers are fighting an uphill battle. From hunting and natural habitat devastation to unsuccessful breeding programs, there are any number of things that make saving some species borderline impossible. Fortunately, one of the world’s foremost zoos has come up with a plan, and it involves a freezer and a needle. The Scripps Research Institute and the San Diego Zoo are teaming up to start a frozen zoo full of stem cells from rare and endangered species. Think of it as a doomsday seed vault, but for animal DNA rather than plant DNA.
“The best way to manage extinction is to preserve species and habitats but that is not always working,” said Oliver Ryder, director of genetics at the San Diego Zoo. “Stem cell technology provides some level of hope that they won’t have to become extinct even though they have been completely eliminated from their habitat.”
One such animal, and the first animal to be entered into the genetic zoo, is the northern white rhinoceros. There are only seven of the animals left in the entire world, all of them in captivity (and two of them in the San Diego Zoo). Researchers believe that preserving the DNA of the species may allow them to create male/female “starter kit” to repopulate a dying species, or may aid in the process of in vitro fertilization to help the species continue on by using the principle of pluripotency to turn the stem cells into male and female sex cells.
Tags: San Diego Zoo, Oliver Ryder, genetics zoo, stem cell zoo, stem cells used to preserve endangered animals, stem cell animal program, animals, rare animals, endangered species, stem cell zoo may save endangered species, Scripps Research Institute, frozen zoo, northern white rhinoceros, northern white rhino, pluripotency