San Diego’s “Frozen Zoo”

By: Janet Rodriguez

Tubes in which skin cells are kept

                For years many animals have been extinct, or on the border of being extinct, thanks to the humans species. Human Kind is very ambitious and selfish, thanks to this many other species have suffered the consequences. Animals are often hunted down by poachers for their unique characteristics. Elephants are often killed for their tusks, tigers for their fur and Rhinos for their horns. Many groups of people and organizations have started to take action in stopping this issue, one of them is the San Diego Zoo. 

Consequences of poaching

The San Diego Zoo in California has been working on a project since 1972, to try to help these animals and many others from becoming permanently extinct. The Zoo began to collect skin samples from rare animals in 1972, scientist hoped that these animals would be protected in the future were science would be more advanced. They made a good choice in doing so because that stem-cell technology is getting closer. The Frozen Zoo has more than 8,400 animal skin cells that represent more than 800 different species. The skin cells are kept in deep freezers (metal boxes filled with liquid nitrogen) with temperatures of -280 degrees Fahrenheit. The San Diego Zoo is not working alone on this project, Scripps Research Institute have been taking skin cell 

samples from the Frozen Zoo and turning them into stem cells. Stem cells as you may know, are undifferentiated cells in an organism that can change into other kinds of cells, like blood cells, skin cells, etc. After turning them to stem cells, they can be converted into sperm or egg cells. These cells could then be used to form an embryo and allow reproduction to occur. The Frozen Zoo will help us keep our interaction with animals and allow us to have the privilege of experiencing nature more effectively. Many people would like to see rare animals, making the San Diego Zoo really popular and busy. The Frozen Zoo would bring more money into the country, because not only will Americans come see the animals but so will other interested people all over the world. 

Where the Skin Cell tubes are kept

The Frozen Zoo has already made an impact on society. Many endangered animal have been relocated into the zoo for protection. The Zoo also has skin cells from already extinct birds, which allows them to be studied and help scientist gain more information. From these skin cells they can see what might have led to their extinction and help prevent other species from becoming extinct. The Frozen Zoo can also help animal species from becoming permanently extinct in the future. There are however some side-effects to this project, which many people use to stop this certain project. The Frozen Zoo tries their best to help out animals from extinction, but many argue that though they could recreate animals they can’t stop poachers from hunting them down. Another side-effect is that this type of technology requires a little bit more time, they’re still trying to come up with the best way to reproduce the animals. So this project may still require a little bit more time, but as genetic technology advances so will the project. 

For more information watch the video below:

Sources:

 http://www.sandiegozooglobal.org/what_we_do_banking_genetic_resources/frozen_zoo/ 

http://recode.net/2014/02/13/to-preserve-and-protect-how-a-frozen-zoo-is-helping-to-save-endangered-species/