A key barrier to the adoption of genomic solutions for conservation is a lack of tangible success stories. Because the use of genomics and biotechnologies to restore biodiversity is a relatively new tool, Revive & Restore has realized that a fund that strategically embraces the scientific challenges and targets cutting-edge research and development could transform conservation practice. This is the goal of the Catalyst Science Fund at Revive & Restore.

We launched the Fund with a pledge of $1 million per year for the next three years from Promega, a leading biotech company. Other donors quickly followed Promega’s lead, and the fund balance now stands at just under $4 million. The Catalyst Science Fund will support research designed to produce actionable science for the development of innovative and high-impact conservation solutions for endangered species and threatened ecosystems.

We are pleased to announce that starting in January, Bridget Baumgartner will join our team as the Catalyst Science Fund Program Manager. With a background in molecular biology and genetics, Bridget brings to this role five years of experience in program development as a contractor to the Biological Technologies Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), developing solutions for counteracting the impacts of climate change and reduced species diversity.  Bridget has a PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX and a B.S. in Biochemistry from Stony Brook University of New York. Bridget will work closely with Revive & Restore leadership and the Catalyst Fund Advisory Council to develop an overarching investment and grant strategy designed to catalyze the creation of impactful innovations in conservation.  She will work directly with the various research teams as they submit proposals, refine their scope of work, establish milestones, and oversee progress and deliverables. Establishing and growing this Catalyst Fund  will be a major focus for Revive & Restore this coming year.

A new foundation, founded this year to dramatically improve the health of global ocean ecosystems, commissioned Revive & Restore to explore the potential of genomic and biotechnology tools to transform marine conservation. We are preparing an “Ocean Genomics Horizon Scan” that is focused on marine conservation problems where genetic rescue and synthetic biology could be catalytic for restoring ocean health and bio-abundance. Over the course of nine months, we interviewed over 100 experts in marine biology, marine conservation, fisheries, ecology, aquaculture, genetics, synthetic biology, and genomic engineering.

These interviews reflect the emerging consensus that the pace and scale of changing ocean conditions, particularly climate change stressors, could overwhelm “traditional” conservation efforts to address threats. New forms of marine intervention are needed. The initial phase of the Horizon Scan found that, while the field is nascent, the most promising applications focus primarily on priority species like coral and particular threats like invasive species. Our Ocean Genomics Horizon Scan provides a vision and plan for the development of new approaches to address vexing marine conservation challenges. We look forward to catalyzing additional work in these areas.

Revive & Restore traveled to Cape May, New Jersey to announce research findings that hopefully will help remove to a significant threat to this 450 million-year-old species and the migratory shorebirds that rely on their eggs for essential nutrition on their spring migrations.

Last May, when horseshoe crabs were spawning on the beaches of Delaware Bay, Revive & Restore presented the results of months of research at a press event hosted by New Jersey Audubon. We published a peer-reviewed paper demonstrating that an enzyme from recombinant DNA provides a synthetic version of a required test for bacterial contaminants that is just as effective as the test produced using the blood of the horseshoe crab. Remarkably, our research found that the if the industry used the synthetic product for just the testing of water, most companies could reduce the demand for crab blood by 90 percent. The industry can now largely eliminate the practice of bleeding 500,000 horseshoe crabs annually for biomedical testing. The timing of our paper coincided with the extraordinary efforts by the company Eli Lilly and Company to convert to the synthetic alternative in some of their manufacturing facilities. Special recognition and gratitude is due to Naira Simmons, one of the brilliant attorneys helping Revive & Restore in our pro bono agreement with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

Horseshoe Crabs being bled; as much as 30% of their blood is drained during this procedure.
500,000 horseshoe crabs are bled annually, and our research is helping to eliminate the practice

In July, Revive & Restore received a first-of-its-kind Endangered Species Recovery Permit from the United States Fish & Wildlife Service to initiate the genetic rescue of North America’s most endangered mammal, the black-footed ferret. All black-footed ferrets in the world today are descended from just seven individuals, which were brought into a captive breeding program in the 1980s when the species was at the verge of extinction.

Genomic sequencing sponsored by Revive & Restore revealed that, if cloned, two cell lines frozen at the San Diego Zoo would effectively represent new founders and would enhance genetic diversity. The permit authorizes Revive & Restore to conduct laboratory experiments to demonstrate the viability of cloning two frozen cell lines from ferrets stored over thirty years ago. These two individuals were part of the original captive population, but died before they could be bred.  

The permit also authorizes Revive & Restore to conduct the laboratory research for creating inheritable immunity to sylvatic plague that is fatal to black-footed ferrets. Our plan to use gene editing to up-regulate the genes that are activated by the vaccine that is currently used to protect black-footed ferrets from plague. The cloning and disease resistance work authorized under the permit can best be characterized as “proof of concept.” If successful, Revive & Restore will work on another round of federal permitting and public comment to complete the genetic rescue of the black-footed ferret.

When the Great Passenger Pigeon Comeback began in 2012, Revive & Restore had three questions: Can we bring back the Passenger Pigeon to the eastern forests of the United States? Should we do it? And if so, how do we restore them to the wild?  This year, more pieces of the big picture fell into place for both the passenger pigeon ecology and genetic engineering research.

Project Lead Ben Novak published open access research in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution: Paleoecology that shed more light on the ecologically important role played by the passenger pigeon. The study explains how reintroduced passenger pigeons would impact different types of masting oak trees inhabiting the eastern forests, information critical to designing reintroduction strategies to benefit present day forest communities.

Meanwhile, critical de-extinction research in comparative genomics and avian genome engineering is underway at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO).

In order to discover the genes that differentiate the passenger pigeon from its closest living relative, the band-tailed pigeon, CSIRO bioinformatician Rahul Rane is comparing genomes to find mutations that make a passenger pigeon unique. But finding mutations is only the first step: discovering the specific mutation responsible for a specific trait requires testing in a living animal. For mammals, this can be done with stem cells in a petri dish, but such cellular techniques have not yet been developed in birds. Novak has been working at the CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory with Tim Doran’s avian genetic engineering team to advance genetic engineering and gene editing in pigeons.

Woolly Mammoth Revival:  
George Church and his lab at Harvard Medical School now have developed guide RNAs to edit the list of elephant genes that are different from woolly mammoth genes using bioinformatics analysis. The lab is also attempting to assemble the Elephant Herpes Virus genome from several assembled fragments, but have found that process to be more difficult than they had hoped.

In March of this year, Revive & Restore got an offer from the creators of pay-to-play smartphone game, Brutal Age, to host a donation event for the Woolly Mammoth Revival Project. Well, never look a gift mammoth in the mouth; imagine our surprise when they sent us a wire transfer of $41,853 for the Church Lab!

Popular Press

• “Disease-Resistant Ferrets?” Powell Tribute – November 13, 2018. [Read here.]
• “Meet the Scientists Bringing Extinct Species Back from the Dead,” Wall Street Journal –  October 9, 2018. [Read here.]
• “Inside the Biomedical Revolution to Save Horseshoe Crabs and the Shorebirds That Need Them,” National Audubon Magazine – May 11, 2018. [Read here.]
• “The Last Days of the Blue-Blood Harvest,” The Atlantic – May 9, 2018 [Read here.]

Revive & Restore Publications  

• “De-Extinction,” Genes –  November 13, 2018. [Read here.]
• “Saving the horseshoe crab: A synthetic alternative to horseshoe crab blood for endotoxin detection,” PLOS Biology – October 12, 2018. [Read here.]
• “Experimental Investigation of the Dietary Ecology of the Extinct Passenger Pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius,” Frontiers in Ecology  and Evolution – March 5, 2018 [Read here.]
• “Advancing a New Toolkit for Conservation: From Science to Policy,” CRISPR Journal – February 2018. [Read here.]