Summary: There are about 3500 to 7000 snow leopards in the wild and their numbers are declining. Scientists at Monash University have produced embryonic stem-cells from ear tissue samples from adult snow leopards. Induced pluripotent cells (these are cells that share some of the properties that embryonic stem cells have) from the cat family have never been generated before now. This new discovery raises possibilities of the cryopreservation of genetic material for cloning in the future!
Impact: With some more work this could stop snow leopards from becoming extinct!
Critique: I think that this is really cool. Snow leopards are awesome and it would be sad if they went extinct. There are people that have ethical problems with cloning, but I guess the scientists can cross that bridge when they get to it. This is amazing because no iPS cells have ever been generated for the cat family!
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