The San Diego zoo and The Scripps Research Institute in La
Jolla, California have joined together to conduct research on
reproducing rare animals. The frozen stems cells, in theory,
will allow a basis to create sperm and eggs in order to create a
reproduction. Paul Aldhous of New Science magazine goes into
detail: “At the annual meeting of the International Society for
Stem Cell Research in San Francisco last week, Inbar Friedrich
Ben-Nun and Jeanne Loring of Scripps described how they have
created induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from the frozen
skin cells of a deceased male drill (Madrillus Ieucophaeus) an
endangered monkey found in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Equatorial
Guinea. The team’s long-term goal is to coax iPS cells into
becoming sperm and eggs. They will be making iPS cells from
tissue held by San Diego zoo’s Frozen Zoo project – which has
samples from some 8400 individuals representing more than 800
species.