According to the World Fund for Nature "2020 Earth Vitality Report", since 1970, the number of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish has decreased by an average of 68%. The report also notes that about a million species of animals and plants are threatened with extinction in the coming decades or centuries due to habitat loss due to human activities.
At the current rate of biodiversity loss, some scientists believe that preserving samples of these potentially extinct species is no longer an option but a scientific work that must be implemented.
In 2001, an Indian bison was born, cloned using genetic material from the frozen zoo and became pregnant in a domestic cow.
Since the establishment of the Frozen Zoo, the field of genetics has reached many milestones. In 1996, the first animal, a sheep named Dolly, began to clone. In 2001, four endangered species were cloned using gene technology : Gor, a hunchbacked Asian bison; Banteng, a Southeast Asian cattle; Przen wild horse , which was found throughout Mongolia and was only recently extinct in the wild; black-footed ferret, considered extinct in the wild before reappearing in 1981, but was later almost wiped out by an epidemic.
First clone sheep Dolly
Although the cloning is not perfect (the cloned Indian Gower only survived for 48 hours), it also proves that it is a useful tool to help save endangered species as it can increase the inherited diversity . When the number of a species decreases, the remaining animals are forced to breed, and the gene bank will continue to shrink, which will eventually threaten survival. For example, the cloned black-footed ferret was a sample collected from 1988 and was born in 2020, meaning that their genetic characteristics are much more diverse than the current population.
China's first cloned macaque
DNA Sample cannot be used for cloning animals, but are crucial for capturing genetic blueprints for potentially disappearing species. Scientists believe that the reason why biodiversity is important goes far beyond emotional factors. Life forms on Earth are related, they support and maintain each other, and the extinction of species may produce the domino effect . When a species dies, those species that rely on it and feed on it may also die.
Mammoth
For DNA preservation, temperature is more important than the length of time the species sleeps. DNA begins to decompose soon after death, but the continuous low temperature can significantly slow down or even stop the process. That's why biologists were able to sequence the genome of mammoths using genetic material from two specimens preserved in the Arctic, one about 4,300 years old and the other dates back 44,800 years ago.
The next step will be to use artificial intelligence to copy and paste mammoth DNA into the Asian elephant cell line, because Asian elephants are the closest relatives of mammoths. If these cells are successfully replicated, the researchers envision creating an artificial uterus for pregnancy —perhaps using 3D printing technology, as done for mouse pups, which could eliminate the need for surrogacy with endangered female elephants.
However, bringing mammoths back may cause various complications and ethical problems. Is this actually saving an extinct species or creating a new species? What real value can bring this species back to create for the ecosystem? What will happen if AI makes an error and fills the missing DNA sequence with the wrong genetic code ? These are all confusing and controversial issues.
