Freezing for the future

DNA storage initiative for endangered species Only too aware of the threat of species loss, scientists have launched a scheme to preserve the genetic material of the thousands of animals that could face extinction within 30 years. The plan is to collect and freeze DNA and tissue samples from each - giving priority to those already extinct in the wild or likely to disappear within the next five years. Among the first material to enter the so-called Frozen Ark will be ‘back-up copies’ of the Arabian oryx, the spotted seahorse, the Socorro dove and the Partula snail. The Institute of Genetics at the University of Nottingham will provide laboratory facilities to develop the best methods of collecting, preserving and storing samples. Eventually they’ll form a central reference collection to underpin future biology research and conservation, backed up by a DNA database. The possibility of using frozen sperm or cloning cells to reverse future extinctions has not been excluded. The project is backed by the Natural History Museum and the Zoological Society of London, and several laboratories around the world where samples will be stored. “When the last individual of a species dies, you lose all the adaptations that have accumulated over millions of years of evolution,” said Georgina Mace, of the Natural History Museum. “It would be incredibly reckless of us to allow these adaptations to be lost.” And, as project patron Sir Crispin Tickell pointed out, “the damp and slimy are just as important - if not more important - than the warm and the furry”.

7 September 2004