Genome mapping of endangered species

J

J.simpkin

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
Why isn't more effort being focused on mapping the genome of endangered species rather than the freezing of cell samples?
 
How will mapping their genome help them? I think the scientist would be more interested in mapping the genomes of cats, dogs, pigs, horses etc, before even contemplating endangered species.
 
Mapping their genome would help preserve a species forever ,instead of freezing cells scientists would be able to recreate a species genome if the worst were to happen.
 
J.simpkin said:
Mapping their genome would help preserve a species forever ,instead of freezing cells scientists would be able to recreate a species genome if the worst were to happen.
Click to expand...

Stientists can map genome later using frozen cells. It is questionable if we can recreate animal using mapped genome on actual stage of technology, so we should do now more useful work. And mapped genome cannot provide genetic diversity while frozen cell samples can.
 
Craig venter has already recreated a life form from a genome on a computer so i'd imagine its only a matter of time before the technology get to the stage where we can use it on more complex species ,i think it would be more effective to map multiple genomes of a species to create genetic diversity instead of freezing cells which would use a lot more energy and space. Also it would be much easier to send a genome to another zoo than sending frozen cells.
 
Last edited:
Do you know how many years it took to map the human genome? Many species don't have that much time.

:p

Hix
 
they've got sequencing of the human genome down to about a day, so i think the technology has come along a bit.
 
Mapping a genome is relatively simple, but without the basic biological material to work with it is just a bunch of genetic code. Unless there is viable genetic material to work with then a genome sequence by itself won't get you anywhere.
 
DavidBrown said:
Mapping a genome is relatively simple, but without the basic biological material to work with it is just a bunch of genetic code. Unless there is viable genetic material to work with then a genome sequence by itself won't get you anywhere.
Click to expand...

There are some "loopholes" or "backdoors" (I don't know right words): sometime we can use related species as base (theoretically).
 
the craig venter institute actually created a genome from Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, and Thymine and then inserted it into a cell .
 
J.simpkin said:
the craig venter institute actually created a genome from Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, and Thymine and then inserted it into a cell .
Click to expand...

Even flawless DNA chain does not solve the problem by itself.
What type of cell was it? Was it real full genome or something like plasmid?
Do you mention this?
 
not sure think it was some sort of bacteria nothing as complex as a tiger but the technology is there .
 
No of course not but its only a matter of time before they make this possible .I just think instead of freezing the cells of a species ,we should maybe sequence their genomes .This way we can send the genomes to the other side of the world.
 
J.simpkin said:
No of course not but its only a matter of time before they make this possible .I just think instead of freezing the cells of a species ,we should maybe sequence their genomes .This way we can send the genomes to the other side of the world.
Click to expand...

You just told that sequencing of genome is not a time-consuming operation. So it could be done at any time. But it requires cell samples anyway, so collecting of frozen cells is not an obstacle.

And does it really matter what will we send to other side of the world - information or cells - if results are the same? And I doubt we can/will establish a lot of laboratories all over the world, so problem of sending is not of current interest as for me.

The problem of technology is still the main.
 
J.simpkin said:
No of course not but its only a matter of time before they make this possible .I just think instead of freezing the cells of a species ,we should maybe sequence their genomes .This way we can send the genomes to the other side of the world.
Click to expand...

People already are sequencing the genomes of many species and will continue to, but this will not solve the problem that you are asking about. It may be viable to do what Venter et al. did for a eukaryote at some point in the future, but that is decades away. If there is no genetic material (cells, sperm, eggs) to work with then trying to reconstruct a species with current (or foreseeable technology) is not possible.

If you don't preserve genetic material then there is no hope for reviving species, and even if you do the technology does not currently exist so preserving the material at least gives you something to work with if the technology is developed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top