Animal poo can be used to save endangered species from extinction, research finds | Science

The conversion of animal stools into offspring seems like a zoo guard trick, but it may become a reality if researchers succeed in a new project to help save endangered animals from extinction.

From snow leopards to sea turtles, animals around the world are threatened, as some scientists call the huge wildlife loss in recent decades “Biological genocide”.

Researchers now explore whether they can use dung to capture the genetic diversity of animals.

The project depends on “The Poo Zoo”, on a simple hypothesis: besides being rich in non -professional foods, bacteria and cards, stool also contains cells of the creature that deposited them, from the lining of their intestine.

Decally, research suggested that some of these cells inside the stool are still alive – at least when the deposit is new.

“It is very early stages,” said Professor Susanna Williams of Oxford University, who leads the team. “But so far he feels very positive,” she added, noting that she has not only wasolated living cells from mouse stools, but also from the elephant dung.

Hope is that these cells can be used to help enhance genetic diversity within the population, thus increasing the chance of survival.

Approach, known as “Genetic rescue“It can take several forms. In the first place, the DNA can be analyzed from cells to help scientists understand the genetic variation of various population groups, and to inform various preservation efforts. This DNA is of higher quality if it is extracted from the cells that are alive.

But if the cells can be raised from stools and their growth, they raise another possibility: creating entire animals using the artist -backed reproductive techniques.

This reproduction includes – where the cell nucleus is inserted into a donor egg, the electrical motivation is applied, and the resulting fetus is planted in an alternative to the production of a genetic “twin” for the original animal.

Perhaps it is still more exciting is the ability to reprogram cells so that they have the ability to become any type of cell. Critically, Search in mice It has been suggested that these cells can turn into sperm and eggs-and this means that they can be used in IVF techniques to produce offspring.

“If you us eggs and Sperm, you get to leverge Sexual Reproduction and All of the Recombination that Happy D justing Those Events, and you get to really status to Build the pilotial for adaptification to Environmental Stress, “SAID DR Ashlee Hutchinson, Who Came up with the Idea of ​​the Poo Zoo and Is A Proagram Manager of Revival and restoreIt is a US -based preservation organization that funds work.

Simply put, by creating sexual cells in the laboratory, it is possible to harness the genetic diversity of species without the need to combine individual animals – who may be in different parts of the world, or cannot be reached in another way – or the need to collect sperm and eggs.

Reconstruction cells can allow scientists to use genetic liberalization techniques to understand, for example, genes participating in wildlife diseases or environmental adaptations-information that can later be used for a more flexibility engineer in species, for example by examining sexual cells or embryos for some genes, or even through genes.

Genetics liberation is already exploring by reviving and restoring To restore the extinct passengersAnd the Comprehension COOLOSSAL in an attempt Revival of the Sufi mammoth.

Freezing the cultivated cells in the liquid nitrogen in -196C means that they can be preserved indefinitely, allowing the DNA that has a potential in applications that you have not dreamed of yet.

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But this usually includes taking cells or tissues from the animal itself, whether alive or after his death. On the contrary, taking cells from POO is not invasive and does not include capture, which raises the possibility of collecting them from the most void creatures-a approach that can enable scientists to reach greater genetic diversity by taking samples from the wild population.

“It is a state about how we can collectively collect live cells in the largest possible number of types that we can maintain the diversity we lose at a terrifying rate,” said Dr. Raynon Bolton, a project researcher from the Chester Zoo, a charitable institution that cooperates in the project.

But the approach is not without challenges. Bolton said that the huge size of the dung to be treated is large – “Think about the buckets and discussion at first.”

What’s more, Brazes contain more than just animal cells and organic waste.

“This is the most heavy bacteria environment that can collect cells,” Williams said. The team is already a solution – using dilution to remove bacteria.

Then we culture [the animal cells] In antibiotics and fungal antibiotics, “Williams said.

But even if it is possible to isolate living cells from stool and culture, there are obstacles to clarify them before the birth control is produced. Among them is the lack of understanding of childbearing physiology for many animals, which means that the concentration, at least in the beginning, is likely to be well studied.

However, while the POO Zoo is in its infancy, the team constitutes: Williams is also an endeavor to save the northern white rhinoceros using the laboratory -based methods to produce a large number of eggs from the tissues of the rhino Successful cloning of the Black Ver Type twice believed to have become extinct – from frozen cells decades before that.

However, some specialists maintain maintaining prevention are better than treatment.

“The best way to protect species is to prevent them from decreasing to the point that approaches such as cloning are needed. Paul de Ornillas, chief consultant in wildlife science in the UK, said:“ These new technologies may provide some exciting opportunities for preservation, it is unlikely to provide the transformation that we need to see. ”

“Treating the basic motives for a decrease in biological diversity, such as losing habitats and excessive exploitation while supporting widespread conservation efforts that enable the protection and restoration of nature, our primary focus should be if we deal with the biological diversity crisis.”

Dr. David Jashovsky, associate professor in the wildlife environment at the University of Clemerson and an expert in the Black River, added that although genetic diversity is important, it is not enough on its own.

He said: “The production of more animals does not necessarily mean that you have removed the threat in the wilderness to release the animal and survive.”

But the POO Zoo team says that modern and traditional methods can work in parallel.

“I do not say that we must stop protecting habitats and stopping it in the saving efforts on the site,” Bolton said. “I only think because of the terrible straits we are, you need to try several different tools.”