Northern white rhino: New hopes for IVF rescue
A new study raises hopes of saving one of the last animals of its kind. A victim of poaching, the northern white rhino population has been reduced to just two females, which are both unable to breed.
DNA evidence shows the rhino is more closely related than previously thought to its southern white cousin. Creating rhino hybrids using IVF is likely to have a positive outcome, say scientists, although this option is considered a last resort.
The white rhino split into two divided populations living in the north and south of Africa around one million years ago. But an extensive analysis of DNA from living rhinos and museum specimens shows the northern and southern populations mixed and bred at times after this date, perhaps as recently as 14,000 years ago.
[...] In July, one team took eggs from female southern rhinos - which number around 20,000 in the wild - and fertilised them with frozen sperm from a male northern white rhino, to create hybrid embryos.
The new study suggests this sort of approach might pay off, given that the two rhinos are closer genetically than once thought. "We think it improves the chances," said Prof Bruford. "It is difficult to predict what might happen if we cross the two subspecies but given the current options for the northern white rhino it becomes a more viable option, should other approaches fail."
Other options include using frozen tissue from a wider pool of northern white rhinos to generate stem cells that have the capacity to develop into eggs and sperm. This would avoid diluting the gene pool, but is more challenging to achieve.
Previously: Saving the Northern White Rhinoceros with Science
Last Male Northern White Rhino 'Sudan' Falls Ill as Species Edges Closer to Extinction
Last Male Northern White Rhino Dies
Genetic Intervention Could Save the Northern White Rhino From Extinction
(Score: 2) by VLM on Friday November 09 2018, @12:08PM (4 children)
Minimal correction:
As wikipedia says about the southern white rhino
The existing title kinda imples the southern white rhinos are also nearly extinct which is the opposite of the situation.
Also I switched to block quotes instead of parenthesis to avoid the obvious religious issue, I don't think any rhinos are Jewish. Well, there's probably a joke about RINOs in US congress thankfully going extinct, but whatevs.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday November 09 2018, @12:50PM
not the headline I originally had, but mine had a different mistake
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 09 2018, @02:31PM (1 child)
Just because something is most abundant subspecies does not mean anything other than that there are n+x of them, where x can be from 1 to a lot. They could still be endangered. Too lazy to go to the wikipedia.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday November 09 2018, @05:00PM
Perhaps, but the general idea is that it's a whole lot more than a population of one.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by martyb on Friday November 09 2018, @04:50PM
I rearranged the title slightly to reduce the ambiguity; it now reads:
I'm not entirely happy with the new title, but am limited to 100 characters. I hope the new wording is clearer.
Do note that the story summary DOES state:
In other words, there are only 2 Northern White Rhinos left, both of which are female and they are also unable to breed.
Not the clearest phrasing, but I take that to mean that there are about 20,000 Southern White Rhinos in the world; they took egg from some (indeterminate number) of those, obviously only from the females.
So, the summary does give populations for Northern (2) and Southern (~20K) White Rhinos from which you can reach your own assessment as to their being nearly extinct or merely threatened.
Wit is intellect, dancing.