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ysabetwordsmithCloned black-footed ferret gives birth in historic first, a victory for the highly endangered species
Once thought to be extinct, black-footed ferrets are the only ferret native to North America, and are making a comeback, thanks to the tireless efforts of conservationists.
Captive breeding, habitat restoration, and wildlife reintegration have all played a major role in bringing populations into the hundreds after near total extinction.
But one other key development has been genetic cloning.
[---8<---]
Antonia, a black-footed ferret cloned from the DNA of a ferret that lived in the 1980s has successfully birthed two healthy kits of her own: Sibert and Red Cloud.
It's not enough to save the species, but it's an excellent improvement in previous conditions, particularly since the mother was cloned from the remains of a ferret outside the living gene pool. Now if they could replicate that with the remains of other unrelated ferrets, they might actually salvage the population.
THIS is what gengineering is for.
Once thought to be extinct, black-footed ferrets are the only ferret native to North America, and are making a comeback, thanks to the tireless efforts of conservationists.
Captive breeding, habitat restoration, and wildlife reintegration have all played a major role in bringing populations into the hundreds after near total extinction.
But one other key development has been genetic cloning.
[---8<---]
Antonia, a black-footed ferret cloned from the DNA of a ferret that lived in the 1980s has successfully birthed two healthy kits of her own: Sibert and Red Cloud.
It's not enough to save the species, but it's an excellent improvement in previous conditions, particularly since the mother was cloned from the remains of a ferret outside the living gene pool. Now if they could replicate that with the remains of other unrelated ferrets, they might actually salvage the population.
THIS is what gengineering is for.
