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In 1988, the first black-footed ferret cells were collected, frozen and carefully stored in a secure lab.
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Those cells became the first of any native endangered animal species from North America to be cloned.
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Here at the San Diego Zoo, biologists are using advanced cloning technology to help save other endangered species from extinction, like the mighty rhinoceros.
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Oh my gosh, that one is running.
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Do you see that one running around?
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Oh, I love rhinos.
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They are beautiful.
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It's all possible because their cells have been frozen in time here at the Frozen Zoo.
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Along with the black-footed ferrets, this one-of-a-kind facility acts as a genetic time machine and could help bring back endangered or even extinct species in the future.
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The Frozen Zoo is the largest, most diverse collection of its kind, and it's a collection of skin cells from mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians.
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That's really incredible.
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Why skin cells?
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Why are they so important and useful?
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That's a great question.
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The skin cells can be used for all kinds of genetic rescue of a species, and we can also clone from these cells.
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So that sounds like science fiction, but it is actually science, proper science that can save some of these species from extinction.
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Right.
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We have the cells from the black footed ferret, Elizabeth Ann, If you'd like to see those.
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I would love to see it.
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What a story.
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I mean, the first cloned black footed ferret originated from cells that were housed right in this room.
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Exactly.
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Yes.
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That's amazing.
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My goodness.
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Oh, this is a really cool moment.
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It really is.
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This is awesome.
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You can read that black footed ferret.
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So that's a pellet of cells and there's one to three million living cells in there.
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DNA is non living, but the living cells are why they can contribute to cloning.
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And the only way to keep them alive is to keep them frozen like this.
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Exactly.
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So how did we get Elizabeth Ann?
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She's a clone of a ferret named Willa, a ferret that had never reproduced from 1988, from 1988.
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Think of all the animals that were alive 50 years ago that have died.
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But we have their cells.
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For example, we have the cells of 12 northern white rhinos.
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They're only two alive today.
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We have 3 extinct species.
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It is amazing technology.
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Marlys, I have to just ask, is there an emotional element for you to kind of hold some of potentially the future of a whole species in your hands literally at times?
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What does it feel like?
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Do you want to feel what it feels like?
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Yes.
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Is that an option?
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Yes.
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If you hold your hand over the liquid nitrogen here, what does that say?
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It says female black-footed ferret, March 1988.
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Wow.
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So you're holding living cells of an animal that has passed away, but these cells have the genetic diversity that will help the population.
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Honestly, it feels like hope is what it feels like, that cells are alive and useful.
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It's really hopeful.
