Back from the dead? Stem cells give expect revival of Malaysia's extinct rhinos

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Some skin, eggs and tissue samples are all that remain of Malaysia's last rhino, Iman, who died last November after years of failed breeding attempts.

Now scientists are pinning their hopes on experimental stem cell technology to recreate the Malaysian variant of the Sumatran rhinoceros, making use of cells from Iman and two other dead rhinos.

"I'm very confident," molecular biologist Muhammad Lokman Md Isa told Reuters in his laboratory at the International Islamic University of Malaysia.

"If everything is functioning, is effective and every person supports us, it isn't impossible."

The tiniest among the world's rhinos, the Sumatran species was declared extinct in the wild in Malaysia in 2015. Once it had roamed across Asia, but hunting and forest clearance reduced its numbers to just 80 in neighboring Indonesia.

Iman, 25, died in a nature reserve on Borneo island, following massive loss of blood caused by uterine tumors, within half a year of the death of Malaysia's last male rhino, Tam.

Efforts to find the two to breed had not worked.

"He was the equivalent of a 70-year-old man, so of course you do not expect the sperm to be all that good," said John Payne of the Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA), who has campaigned for approximately four decades to save Malaysia's rhinos.

"It was clear that, to raise the chances of success, you need to get sperm and eggs from the rhinos in Indonesia. But right till today, Indonesia continues to be not thinking about this."

Across the border

Indonesia's environment ministry disputed accusations of cross-border rivalry as a reason why Malaysia's rhinos become extinct, saying talks keep on ways to use conservationists in the neighboring southeast Asian nation.

"Because that is part of diplomatic relations, the implementation should be relative to the regulation of every country," said Indra Exploitasia, the ministry's director for biodiversity conservation.

The Malaysian scientists plan to use cells from the dead rhinos to produce sperm and eggs that may yield test-tube babies to be implanted into a living animal or a closely related species, such as the horse.

The plan is comparable to one for the African northern white rhinoceros, which number just two. Researchers in that effort reported some success in 2018 in creating embryonic stem cells for the southern white rhino.

But the process is still far from producing a complete new animal, say Thomas Hildebrandt and Cesare Galli, the scientists leading the research.

And regardless if it worked, the animals' insufficient genetic diversity could pose a threat to long-term survival, Galli told Reuters.

Indonesian scientist Arief Boediono is among those helping in Malaysia, hoping success provides lessons to greatly help his country's rhinos.

"It might take five, 10, 20 years, I have no idea," Arief added. "But there's already been some success involving lab rats in Japan, in order that means there is a chance."

Japanese researchers have become teeth and organs such as for example pancreas and kidneys using embryonic stem cells from rats and mice in efforts to grow replacement human organs.

For the present time, however, Iman's hide will be stuffed and placed on display alongside Tam in a Borneo museum.
Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com

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