( February 20, 2021; engadget )
Animal cloning might just become a valuable tool in preserving species that might otherwise go extinct. BBC News says US Fish and Wildlife Service has successfully cloned a black-footed ferret — the first genetic copy of a North American endangered species. Elizabeth Ann, born on December 10th, was produced from the frozen cells of Willa, a ferret that lived over 30 years ago. A team at ViaGen Pets & Equine created embryos and implanted them in a domestic ferret surrogate.
The black-footed ferret is North America's only native ferret, and was thought to have gone extinct until a Wyoming rancher found a small group of them in 1981. They've since been part of a captive breeding program.
Read the rest from engadget: A ferret is the first North American endangered animal to be cloned