Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by mrpg on Friday November 09 2018, @09:01AM   Printer-friendly
from the south-side dept.

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


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by VLM on Friday November 09 2018, @12:08PM (4 children)

    by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 09 2018, @12:08PM (#759813)

    (Nearly Extinct) Northern and Southern White Rhinos More Closely Related than Previously Thought

    Minimal correction:

    [Nearly Extinct Northern White] and [Southern White] Rhinos More Closely Related than Previously Thought

    As wikipedia says about the southern white rhino

    the most abundant rhino subspecies in the world

    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.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Friday November 09 2018, @12:50PM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday November 09 2018, @12:50PM (#759831) Journal

    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)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 09 2018, @02:31PM (#759859)

    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

      by Freeman (732) on Friday November 09 2018, @05:00PM (#759933) Journal

      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

    by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 09 2018, @04:50PM (#759929) Journal

    I rearranged the title slightly to reduce the ambiguity; it now reads:

    Northern (Nearly Extinct) and Southern White Rhinos More Closely Related than Previously Thought

    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:

    A victim of poaching, the northern white rhino population has been reduced to just two females, which are both unable to breed.

    In other words, there are only 2 Northern White Rhinos left, both of which are female and they are also unable to breed.

    In July, one team took eggs from female southern rhinos - which number around 20,000 in the wild...

    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.