Located at the San Diego Zoo is the Institute for Conservation Research that is home to the Frozen Zoo containing tissue cell samples of 10 thousand animals from a thousand different species.
According to the WWF or World Wide Fund for Nature, more than 10 thousand species go extinct every year.
Located at the San Diego Zoo is the Institute for Conservation Research that is home to the Frozen Zoo containing tissue cell samples of 10 thousand animals from a thousand different species.
The Frozen Zoo has been in operation for around 37 years.
Doctor Oliver Ryder, director of genetics at the Institute for Conservation Research is quoted as saying: “It’s the biggest, most diverse, best characterized and most utilized collection of its kind. But it’s a small amount of biodiversity for the number of species that are potentially facing extinction.”
Researchers at the Frozen Zoo study the genetic variation, evolutionary changes, and hereditary links of different species using the animal cells.
Researchers also hope to use the genetic information for species conservation or even or de-extinction, through cloning or stem cell conversion, and in vitro fertilization.
The Frozen Zoo website has links to more information about the variety of research being conducted using the animal tissue cell samples including studies of endangered species like gorillas and other great apes, elephants and reptiles.
