
Southern White Rhino Victoria Is Pregnant, Could Save Subspecies - uptown
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-17/rhino-in-san-diego-pregnant-could-help-save-subspecies
======
Johnny555
_The San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research has the cell lines of
12 different northern white rhinos stored in freezing temperatures at its
"Frozen Zoo."_

Is that enough genetic diversity to rebuild the species?

~~~
antidamage
With things like CRISPR on the horizon, fuck yes. Diversity isn't a problem
when you can just solve genetic disorders.

~~~
tathougies
Genetic disorders are not the problem here. Things like disease are. Genetics
can make it so one individual is more susceptible. Even if we can modify the
genome at will, we have no information on how to modify the genome to make it
do a certain thing. There's no room for error in this regard, as most
mutations are going to be deleterious.

Moreover, CRISPR won't help individuals who are already affected by a genetic
disorder. At most, perhaps it can help the progeny, but if the progeny isn't
able to reproduce for another reason, then this point is also moot.

~~~
maxerickson
Gene therapies are still in pretty early stages but they are likely to work on
adults.

(it's far enough along that there's hundreds of human trials)

~~~
tathougies
There is a limited subset of things for which gene therapies can work in
adults. For example, thalassemia is caused by continued abnormal production of
hemoglobin. If you fix the one defective gene, future hemoglobin will now be
the correct variety. However, the old hemoglobin does not magically correct
itself, and it will take time to clear. Meanwhile the damage it may have done
to the liver and spleen will persist.

Gene therapy can also fix other conditions. For example, many complications of
cystic fibrosis are caused by abnormal cilia not clearing mucus properly. You
can switch the gene on to restore cilia function and clear the mucus. Sounds
good so far, right?

Well, not quite. Cystic fibrosis can also cause men to be born without vas
deferens -- the tubes that connect the testicles to the urethra and allow
sperm to leave the penis. This happens because normal male development
requires working cilia at the time the vas deferens is forming -- sometime in
the first trimester of pregnancy. Once you pass this point, restoring normal
cilia function will not make the organs that failed to form magically spring
into being. That was a developmental event that does not happen again. There
are no second chances for many stages of development. We have a long way to go
before we can successfully treat genetic disease before the embryo starts to
form.

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maxxxxx
Is this a good allocation of resources and attention? I also doubt all the
effort that's going into Pandas while a ton of animals that are less good
looking have their habitats destroyed and nobody seems to care.

~~~
wavefunction
One great aspect of conserving large mammal species is that these species
generally require large amounts of land so by protecting them you can
hopefully also provide shelter for all the smaller and less-cuddly creatures
in the area.

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otalp
What is the value of saving a sub-species?

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mpd
[https://outline.com/eug5BB](https://outline.com/eug5BB) for anyone hitting
the paywall

~~~
vmarsy
The Bloomberg website shouldn't be used in this submission. I find it shameful
to put a paywall on an article literally copy-pasted from what Associated
Press provided. It would make sens only if the ads disappeared if you're a
Bloomberg subscriber.

The exact same article word for word:

[https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Rhino-Pregnancy-at-
Sa...](https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Rhino-Pregnancy-at-San-Diego-
Zoo-Safari-Park-Raises-Hopes-of-Saving-Subspecies-482943591.html)

or

[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/17/pregnant-
rhino-s...](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/17/pregnant-rhino-san-
diego-zoo-could-help-save-endangered-subspecies/)

or

[https://www.wthr.com/article/rhino-in-san-diego-pregnant-
cou...](https://www.wthr.com/article/rhino-in-san-diego-pregnant-could-help-
save-subspecies)

EDIT: even better, the link Johnny555 linked to:
[https://www.apnews.com/10c94168ec6d4efd894755ac84b17bca/Rhin...](https://www.apnews.com/10c94168ec6d4efd894755ac84b17bca/Rhino-
in-San-Diego-pregnant,-could-help-save-subspecies)

Curiously it wouldn't show up in my Google search.

~~~
Johnny555
If you want to avoid seeing a re-post of an AP news article, then why not link
to the AP itself?

[https://www.apnews.com/10c94168ec6d4efd894755ac84b17bca/Rhin...](https://www.apnews.com/10c94168ec6d4efd894755ac84b17bca/Rhino-
in-San-Diego-pregnant,-could-help-save-subspecies)

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Andre_Wanglin
How is a subspecies defined?

