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Sunday, April 3, 2011

Scientists in Dubai plan 'frozen zoo' for cloning - The National

Scientists in Dubai plan 'frozen zoo' for cloning - The National: "DUBAI // Scientists in Dubai are keeping a repository of frozen cells they hope can one day be used to create cloned animals that can repopulate species facing the threat of extinction.

Experts at the Camel Reproduction Centre, in al Aweer, are in the initial stages of putting together a 'frozen zoo' of cells taken from endangered species.

It is hoped that those cells will bolster dwindling stocks of native species such as the Arabian leopard, the oryx and the tahr, or mountain goat.

'Cloning can help preserve species which are threatened with extinction,' said Dr Nisar Wani, the head of the reproductive biology lab at the centre. 'We can store millions and millions of cells here. So if tomorrow anything happens to those endangered animals and they become extinct, we can produce millions of embryos from those cells.'"

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