Posted on 02/19/2021 7:30:03 AM PST by lowbridge
Scientists have cloned the first U.S. endangered species, a black-footed ferret duplicated from the genes of an animal that died over 30 years ago.
The slinky predator named Elizabeth Ann, born Dec. 10 and announced Thursday, is cute as a button. But watch out — unlike the domestic ferret foster mom who carried her into the world, she’s wild at heart.
“You might have been handling a black-footed ferret kit and then they try to take your finger off the next day,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service black-footed ferret recovery coordinator Pete Gober said Thursday. “She’s holding her own.”
Elizabeth Ann was born and is being raised at a Fish and Wildlife Service black-footed ferret breeding facility in Fort Collins, Colorado. She’s a genetic copy of a ferret named Willa who died in 1988 and whose remains were frozen in the early days of DNA technology.
Cloning eventually could bring back extinct species such as the passenger pigeon. For now, the technique holds promise for helping endangered species including a Mongolian wild horse that was cloned and last summer born at a Texas facility.
“Biotechnology and genomic data can really make a difference on the ground with conservation efforts,” said Ben Novak, lead scientist with Revive & Restore, a biotechnology-focused conservation nonprofit that coordinated the ferret and horse clonings.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
Beat me to it.
Oops, I insulted Dodo Bird, they are smarter... 😀
Would that species happen to be the straight, male, white? Sorry , had to say that!
Cloning will be a very useful tool to protect endangered species.
Even more exciting will be de-extinction of species that aren’t around currently. It will happen. I’d love to see Woolly Mammoths, Tasmanian Tigers, Dodo Birds, Saber Toothed Tigers, etc.
I would like to have a miniature Mammoth
Thats nothing.
Democrats cloned voting ballots.
I’d like to see them bring back the Dodo bird. Very good eating. Probably easy to domesticate.
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