THOUSANDS of animal species face imminent extinction due to loss of habitat, overexploitation and the menace of invasive species. But thanks to a new DNA and tissue bank, at least a little bit of them will be safe for the foreseeable future.
The project, called the Frozen Ark, is being launched to collect hair, skin, living tissue and possibly even eggs from endangered species, and place them in freezers cooled to −80 °C. The DNA can be used right away to understand the genetic diversity in populations of endangered animals and work out how to manage them in the wild.…
