Black-Footed Ferret Archives - Revive & Restore

Jan 18 2022

Science Magazine: “Cloning Goes Wild”, and the future of conservation is forever changed

By RandR ADMIN Articles, Biotechnology, Black-Footed Ferret, Cloning for Conservation

Science magazine journalist Rachel Fritts interviewed Revive & Restore’s Lead Scientist Ben Novak for this newly published article, Cloning Goes Wild, to share the story of Elizabeth Ann, the world’s first cloned black-footed ferret and one of North America’s most endangered species. Elizabeth Ann recently celebrated her first birthday, a major milestone that makes her one of the first clones of an endangered species to reach sexual maturity. “Everything about Elizabeth Ann is much bigger than the science behind it, and it’s much bigger than helping the ferrets,” says Novak. “It’s about whether biotechnology can become a part of mainstream...

Jan 10 2022

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Ryan Phelan on Reshaping Evolution for TED Radio Hour

By RandR ADMIN Biotechnology, Black-Footed Ferret, Genetic Rescue, Podcasts, Przewalski Horse, Ryan Phelan

How can genetic engineering help not just humans, but animals and plants too? Ryan Phelan, Co-founder and Executive Director of Revive & Restore, shares with Manoush Zomoradi in this TED Radio Hour how we are using a wide range of genetic engineering tools to rescue a variety of species facing extinction. Ryan provides examples of species that we’ve helped protect thanks to biotechnologies. This includes cloning the Black-footed Ferret to increase their genetic diversity, a necessary component to the species’ survival. She also talks about where genetic tools are desperately needed to save biodiversity, such as engineering coral reefs to withstand warmer...

Jan 05 2022

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Mongabay: “Extinction is pressing, Biotechnologies are necessary”

By RandR ADMIN 2022, Articles, Ben Novak, Biotechnology, Black-Footed Ferret, Cloning for Conservation, Genetic Rescue

Revive & Restore’s Lead Scientist Ben Novak recently spoke to Mongabay about the need to pursue biotechnologies like cloning to address the extinction crisis. In her piece titled “For species on the very brink of extinction, cloning is a loaded last resort”, Mongabay journalist Caitlin Looby takes a look at what actions are being taken to save our world’s disappearing biodiversity. “Right now, conventional conservation measures are struggling to keep up with the pace of the threats that face the world. We’ve crippled populations to such fragmented and small sizes,” says Ben Novak, lead scientist at Revive and Restore, a...

Mar 03 2021

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How the Black-footed Ferret Project Began—Thinking Outside The Box

By Heather Sparks Black-Footed Ferret

It was in 2013 that Seth Willey, a regional recovery coordinator with the US Fish And Wildlife Service, contacted Revive & Restore with the following email. You never know how impactful ideas may become, so always send that email! From: Seth Willey Sent: Tuesday, June 18, 2013 9:20 AM To: Ryan Phelan, Stewart Brand Subject: Outside the box question Hello Ryan Phelan and Stewart Brand, My name is Seth Willey. I work for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Endangered Species program. I understand through media reports that your organization is working to revive lost species and conserve existing ones....

Dec 29 2015

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2015 Year End Report by Stewart Brand

By RandR ADMIN Black-Footed Ferret, De-Extinction, Heath Hen, Passenger Pigeon

Revive & Restore has set out to expand conservation practice by demonstrating how new genomic tools can be applied to a variety of serious wildlife problems that have proved unsolvable by traditional means. Working with dozens of scientists, we are participating in 12 such projects—7 initiated by us. Of the 12 projects, 6 aim to prevent extinction of endangered species (genetic rescue), 5 attempt to reverse extinction in ecologically important species (de-extinction), and 1 hopes to cure a devastating human ailment (Lyme disease) by tweaking its wildlife reservoir. That may seem like too much for a tiny nonprofit to take…

Jul 11 2014

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Black-footed Ferret Genome

By RandR ADMIN Black-Footed Ferret One Comment

Blog by Oliver Ryder, San Diego Frozen Zoo The marvel that is the black-footed ferret has seen the loss of habitat and prey and experienced devastating epidemics that brought it to the brink of extinction. The black-footed ferret still struggles to expand its tenuous foothold in the landscapes of the extant. All living black-footed ferrets descend from seven individuals in a single population that almost survived in Meeteetse, Wyoming, until an epidemic of canine distemper resulted in the death of the last wild individuals. Efforts led by the State of Wyoming and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service that brought...

Black-Footed Ferret