Northern white rhinos set for stem cell test-tube babies to save species from extinction

The northern white rhino, one of the planet’s most endangered animals, could be saved by pioneering stem cell research.

Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, also hope their work will save other animals teetering on the edge of extinction.

The team have managed to create stem cells from the majestic animals and hope they will eventually be able to produce ‘test tube babies’, too.

Tragic: Northern white rhinos are extinct in the wild. This photo, taken in 2000, is of a young male with his mother Najin at a Zoo in the East Bohemian town of Dvur Kralove

There are only seven northern white rhinos alive on the planet, so the stem cell programme is possibly their only hope of avoiding extinction.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2034033/Northern-white-rhinos-set-stem-cell-test-tube-babies-save-species-extinction.html#ixzz1X7qQGzPl