Preserving wildlife DNA for the future: Interview with the Frozen Zoo’s Katie Heineman

The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance's Frozen Zoo, described as the largest biodiversity banking effort of its kind, stores cells, sperm, oocytes and embryos in liquid nitrogen for long-term conservation use. Two Przewalski's horses, Kurt and Ollie, were cloned from DNA preserved at the facility for 40 years, after the species went extinct in the wild in the 1960s.

Conservation program leader Katie Heineman tells Mongabay the bank also includes a native plant seed bank and tissue collections, and argues the work restores genetic diversity that helps species resist disease and adapt. She says the effort needs more global capacity to collect samples at scale before habitat loss outpaces what can be preserved.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.