Animal excrement could be used to save endangered species, researchers believe. The possibility is explored starting from the fact that some cells are still alive in the manure.
Living cells were isolated including in elephant excrement. Photo shutterstock
Although it sounds impossible, the transformation of animal excrement into descendants could become a reality if the researchers are successful with a new project to help rescue the extinct animals, notes The Guardian.
Animals around the world are threatened with disappearance, some scientists calling the phenomenon that has grown over the past decades “Biological annihilation”.
Excrement also contain cell mucosa cells
Appointed “The zoo of the manure”the project is based on a simple premise: in addition to being rich in undigested foods, bacteria and enzymes, the excrement also contain cells from the animals they belong to, eliminated from the mucosa of their intestines.
Research has suggested that some of these excrement cells are still alive, at least when the material is fresh.
The results are promising
right Professor Suzannah Williams of Oxford University, who leads the team, the project is an incipient one, but the results are promising, mentioning that living cells have been isolated not only from mouse droppings, but also from the elephant.
She and her team hope that these cells could be used to help increase genetic diversity within populations, thus increasing the chances of survival of species.
“Genetic salvation”
The approach, known as “genetic rescue”, can take many forms.
DNA in cells could be analyzed to help scientists understand the genetic variation of different populations, informing various conservation efforts. This DNA is of high quality if it is extracted from living cells.
If the excrement cells can be cultivated and increased, another possibility is raised: creating whole animals using the latest generation reproduction technologies, such as cloning-in which the nucleus of a cell is inserted into a donated egg, an electrical impulse is applied and the resulting embryo is implanted in an surrogate to produce a “twin” genetic of the original animal.
Even more interesting is the possibility to reprogram the cells so that it has the ability to become any type of cell. Studies on mice have suggested that such cells can be transformed into sperm and eggs – which means they could be used in IVF techniques to produce descendants.
Basically, by creating sexual cells in a laboratory, the genetic diversity of a species may be used without the need to be brought together individual animals (which could be in different parts of the world or inaccessible) or their sperm and eggs are collected.
Reprogrammed cells could also allow scientists to use genetic editing techniques to understand, for example, genes involved in wildlife diseases or environmental adaptations.
