Freezing Cells for Conservation
A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2024 | Viewed by 83
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
An estimated nine million species inhabit Earth today. Large-scale habitat destruction by humans is said to have placed the existence of one million of these species imminently at risk. Although conjecture remains, this threat to our planet’s diversity is described as a possible Sixth Mass Extinction event.
The contemplation of objective future biodiversity loss and the disappearance of iconic species helped to seed the notion of freezing cells for conservation and the creation of Benerishke’s Frozen Zoo. Borrowing from cryopreservation, vitrification and ART technologies developed mostly for safeguarding humankind against selected famine, disease and infertility, this cryobanking initiative has now gathered global interest. Otherwise known as genome resource banks, the diverse array of frozen zoos now provide access to somatic cells, stem cells, tissues, gametes and embryos from a range of species irrespective of conservation status, including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, plants, corals and insects. The utility of these genome resource banks for the conservation of species has been demonstrated in proof-of-principle exercises, and with notable examples including cloning of the gaur, the black footed ferret, Przewalski’s horse and the artic wolf.
This Special Issue aims to summarize the current progress in cryobanking initiatives for conservation, including (but not limited to) the role of cell/tissue/gamete/embryo freezing techniques in species such as animals/plants.
We look forward to your contributions.
Dr. Richard Mollard
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- conservation
- freezing cells
- cryobanking
- cell culture
- cloning
- stem cells
- somatic cells
- germ cells
