Extinction: Why scientists freeze endangered species in 'biobanks.'
Written byTimes Magazine
"He's gone," muttered Gabby Drake, a veterinarian at Chester Zoo, holding a stethoscope to the feathered chest of a 28-year-old bright red tropical parrot.
It is sad to see this striking and distinctive bird have to be euthanized. Her little toenails were jagged from arthritis which was now too difficult to treat.
However, this is not the end of the unique genetic code contained within his cells. A few small parts of his body will join samples from 100 species. They are frozen and stored indefinitely in the UK's most prominent living tissue biobank, Nature's Safe.
The samples were stored at -196°C in small vials with nutrient-rich and cell-friendly antifreeze, where all the natural chemical processes in the cells stopped - they stopped in awakening. The idea is that they could be revived at some point in the future - decades, maybe even centuries. It is a frozen re-brake in case of loss.
Conservationists say we are now losing species faster than ever. Against the backdrop of the biodiversity crisis, which the United Nations estimates have one million plant and animal species threatened with extinction, some scientists are now working on what to put in the freezer for the future.
Write is a lofty fan, friendly and outspoken for his charitable mission - the preservation of living tissue from wildlife.
"Life begins again here," he beams, showing a bottle of cheetah skin cells under a microscope.
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