Each of them teaches a lesson for us to carry into 2022.
In February, scientists at a government wildlife breeding facility in northern Colorado announced a breakthrough: They had cloned, for the first time, an endangered species native to North America. It was a black-footed ferret named Elizabeth Ann.
The idea behind this yearslong effort to clone endangered ferrets was one of preservation. The existing population is small and lacks genetic diversity — all of the remaining ferrets are as closely related as siblings or first cousins — making it more vulnerable to threats like disease. Cloning animals that lived decades ago, when more individuals roamed the Great Plains, is a way to inject much-needed new genes into the mix. Scientists cloned Elizabeth Ann using DNA from a ferret that lived in the 1980s.
“I think these technologies can really provide a basis for ensuring that we have wildlife populations in the future,” Oliver Ryder, director of conservation genetics at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, who was involved in the cloning process, told NPR in March.
2021 was a pivotal year for octopuses, manatees, wolves, and more - Vox
In February, scientists at a government wildlife breeding facility in northern Colorado announced a breakthrough: They had cloned, for the first time, an endangered species native to North America. It was a black-footed ferret named Elizabeth Ann.
The idea behind this yearslong effort to clone endangered ferrets was one of preservation. The existing population is small and lacks genetic diversity — all of the remaining ferrets are as closely related as siblings or first cousins — making it more vulnerable to threats like disease. Cloning animals that lived decades ago, when more individuals roamed the Great Plains, is a way to inject much-needed new genes into the mix. Scientists cloned Elizabeth Ann using DNA from a ferret that lived in the 1980s.
“I think these technologies can really provide a basis for ensuring that we have wildlife populations in the future,” Oliver Ryder, director of conservation genetics at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, who was involved in the cloning process, told NPR in March.
2021 was a pivotal year for octopuses, manatees, wolves, and more - Vox