The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced that scientists have successfully cloned two black-footed ferrets from frozen tissue samples.
This is the second and third cloned individual of the black-footed ferret, after the first individual was cloned and born in December 2020.
Black-footed ferrets are an endangered species and scientists hope these new clones will help increase the species’ genetic diversity.
Noreen, one of two black-footed ferrets recently born by cloning (Photo: Rohan Patel).
The limited genetic diversity of the current black-footed ferret population makes them susceptible to diseases and genetic defects, while also reducing their reproductive rates, hindering their ability to adapt to the wild environment, making it difficult for them to adapt to the wild. for quantity recovery.
“Genetic diversity is important for resilience to environmental changes,” said Megan Owen, vice president of conservation science at the San Diego Zoo, which is involved in the cloning effort. asexual black-footed ferrets, shared. “Basically, this is considered the raw material of adaptive evolution.”
The two new cloned individuals are named Noreen and Antonia. Currently, these two individuals are in good health, achieving developmental and behavioral milestones as expected by scientists.
Noreen was born at the National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center in Colorado, while Antonia was born at the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Washington, D.C.
Black-footed ferrets are animals native to North America, having lived on this continent for at least 100,000 years. They have long, slender bodies with light-colored fur, but their faces, four legs and tail are black. This is a nocturnal mammal that burrows underground for shelter.
An estimated 500,000 to 1 million black-footed ferrets lived in the 1800s, ranging from northern Mexico to southern Canada. However, in the 20th century, the population of black-footed ferrets decreased sharply as farmers exterminated marmots, which destroyed crops and were a food source for black-footed ferrets. In addition, a number of diseases have also seriously reduced the number of black-footed ferrets.
