By Fatima Saka
The Zoo in the southwest England is aiming to save some of the world’s most endangered species from extinction by cryogenically freezing tissue and reproductive cell samples, with the aim of helping at-risk animals breed in the future.
The Paignton Zoo in Devon has partnered with Nature’s SAFE, one of Europe’s first “living biobanks”, to process and store the endangered creatures’ samples in a living state at -196C.
The technique specifically targets the genetic codes of animals that are disappearing from the planet, with Shropshire-based Nature’s SAFE holding material from more than 80 species.
One method sees the extraction of sperm cells post-castration of the animal, which then undergo specialised and species-specific processing to enable cryopreservation.
Also researchers are investigating techniques to collect mature egg cells from ovaries to allow female reproductive cell preservation.
Animals cryogenically preserved in the past include: the mouse deer, Colombian black spider monkey and the panther chameleon.
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The Nature’s SAFE is already working in collaboration with Chester Zoo and The Rhino Fertility Project at the University of Oxford, and is supported by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria Biobank.
Speaking, Dr Kirsten Pullen, chief science officer at Wild Planet said “The challenges we face in species conservation mean we have to be innovative and forward thinking”, also trust, a conservation charity which incorporates Paignton Zoo.
“While we continue our efforts in captive breeding and conservation initiatives, working with Nature’s SAFE gives us an exciting opportunity to develop another tool to achieve our goal of halting species decline.”
Dr Rhiannon Bolton, Nature’s SAFE co-founder and charity coordinator, said: “With so many animals at risk of extinction, collaboration to achieve a common goal is vital. This new partnership will enable us to save even more animals from extinction.”
Another, Tullis Matson, Nature’s SAFE co-founders, said they could allow scientists to bring the samples back to life in “10, 20, 30, 1,000 years’ time”.
“In theory, in years to come, we can turn that skin sample into a sperm and an egg, which is quite incredible,” he said.
“But the science is moving at such a rate, if we don’t freeze it now, we’ve lost those species forever.”
