Endangered species of ferret cloned - Printable Version

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Endangered species of ferret cloned - Kyng - 02-23-2021

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-black-footed-ferret-cloned-endangered-species.html

A team of researchers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ViaGen, Revive & Restore, Pets & Equine, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and San Diego Zoo Global has worked together to clone a black-footed ferret as part of an effort to preserve the endangered species. The work by the team has been chronicled on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website.

As recently as the late 1980s, it was thought that black-footed ferrets—the only species of ferret native to North America—had gone extinct. Their existence had been threatened as prairie dog populations (the ferrets' main source of food) dropped due to farming and ranching taking over prairies. But in 1981, a rancher found a small population of them on his property. Environmentalists captured the ferrets and moved them to an area where they could breed—there are approximately 650 alive today in just two locations. Unfortunately, only seven of the original ferrets were able to reproduce; thus, all of the ferrets alive today are direct descendants of those seven—a critical lack of diversity. Without some new blood, it is likely the species would not survive much longer. In this new effort, the researchers found a way to overcome that problem—by cloning a black-footed ferret using frozen tissue stored as part of the San Diego Zoo Global project. Workers there have been collecting tissue samples from endangered species and freezing them with the hope that doing so would lead to cloning efforts.

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Okay, I'd best not tell Megan that it's possible to clone ferrets, otherwise she'll... oh dammit, I just did .

Anyway, I hope this helps to save the species (and similar methods can be used to save others!)

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RE: Endangered species of ferret cloned - Megan - 02-23-2021

Toooo late.

Granted not sure how I feel about cloning, but in this case it might be good if it can save some dookers!

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RE: Endangered species of ferret cloned - Detective Osprey - 02-24-2021

I read somewhere that it might be possible to clone extinct species.

Fingers crossed Passenger Pigeon is next.

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RE: Endangered species of ferret cloned - Kyng - 02-24-2021

(02-24-2021, 02:00 AM)Detective Osprey Wrote: I read somewhere that it might be possible to clone extinct species.

Fingers crossed Passenger Pigeon is next.

Yeah, if they can do it with a dead example of an endangered species, then I see nothing to stop them from doing it with endangered species.

(Though, they'd probably have to clone enough of them to make a viable population, if they didn't want them to go extinct again!)

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