Using frozen cells stored at the San Diego Zoo, researchers have
made induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from two species
teetering on the brink of extinction: an African primate called
a drill and the northern white rhinoceros. The study, published
today (September 4) in Nature Methods, is the first to tap into
the potential of iPSCs for the conservation of endangered
species. “It is one means of capturing a genome in a way that is
reproducible and will allow you to study tissue development
maybe long after the animal is gone,” said George Daley, a
professor at Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical
School, who was not part of this study. “Whether or not this can
assist in reproduction is somewhat more speculative, and that
may or may not ever pan out.” Induced pluripotent stem cells are
created by reprogramming somatic cells. In this case,
researchers started with frozen fibroblasts, in storage at the
San Diego Zoo’s Frozen Zoo, from a now-deceased drill named Loon
and a white rhino named Fatu.