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Scientists Clone Two Black-Footed Ferrets from Frozen Tissues
The aim of cloning the animals is to increase the genetic diversity of the endangered species
“Genetic diversity is critical for resilience to environmental change,” Megan Owen, vice president of conservation science at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, which contributed to the cloning effort, tells the Washington Post ’s Dino Grandoni. While this effort preserved the species, it also set up a problem: All living black-footed ferrets are descended from only seven of the wild-caught animals, severely limiting their genetic diversity. “Some people think if you have [species] in a freezer, you don’t need them in the wild,” Seth Willey, a Fish and Wildlife Service deputy assistant regional director, tells Scientific American.
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