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Using Stem Cells to Save Endangered Species

Posted by samzenpus on from the stick-around-for-a-while dept.

RogerRoast writes "Starting with normal skin cells, scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have produced the first stem cells from endangered species. Such cells could eventually make it possible to improve reproduction and genetic diversity for some species, possibly saving them from extinction, or to bolster the health of endangered animals in captivity. The study was published in the recent issue of Nature Methods."

4 of 73 comments (clear)

  1. good idea and by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    wouldn't it be easier to stop the killing of the ones in the wild first?

    1. Re:good idea and by hairyfeet · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You forgot the fourth and probably biggest reason, which is starving humans eating them to survive just look up "bushmeat" and see for yourself. the really sad part is part of the reason those people are starving is just like blood diamonds we pay warlords for the minerals to make our cell phones and help to keep the wars there going.

      Basically that whole damned area is a mess and unless we in the west just want to roll the tanks and try another hand at nation building (which never seems to work out) I doubt it'll be getting better there any time soon. Most likely the only examples of animals from the congo area and other third world hellholes 50 years from now will be in zoos if we are lucky, museums if we are not.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  2. How about mass domestication? by vadim_t · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Here's a radical idea I heard about: let's domesticate everything remotely domesticable. After all, cats and dogs aren't going to go extinct any time soon. I'm pretty sure that quite a few species like red pandas could make very viable pets. In fact they're probably endangered by their protection status. Who wouldn't want to have something this cute? Allow people to keep them, and they'll get bred like rabbits. Videos like this one suggest that they'd make pretty fun pets.

    For breeds that are too large, breed them down to a manageable size (if we can make a chihuahua surely we can make a dog sized tiger).

    Experiments with foxes seem to show that domestication is quite possible in a reasonable amount of time, and research shows that only 40 genes seem to be responsible for the domestication.

    So, here's the idea: domesticate everything, study what changed in the genetics, and if the wild population decays too much, use the genetics research to reverse the domestication, while drawing from the abundant pet population.

    I think that this might be the better solution long term, as maintaining habitats and populations is a never ending struggle, while that is never a problem for any species people have an use for.

  3. Re:why not? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

    Except that all organisms are needed. Take one away or add one and it's going to either change or break in many subtle ways that may turn out to be catastrophic afterwards.