ECOLOGY:DNA Banks for Endangered Animal Species ... http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/288/5464/275 1 of 5 2/24/06 4:01 PM Science 14 April 2000: Vol. 288. no. 5464, pp. 275 - 277 DOI: 10.1126/science.288.5464.275 POLICY FORUM ECOLOGY: DNA Banks for Endangered Animal Species Oliver A. Ryder, Anne McLaren, Sydney Brenner, Ya-Ping Zhang, Kurt Benirschke * Although the loss of biodiversity resulting from extinctions is receiving increasing attention, the accompanying decrease in access to genetic resources has not been widely discussed. The threat of extinction for many species, both known and as yet undiscovered, grows ever greater as whole ecosystems vanish, human populations proliferate, and human-mediated interference increases. Even though efforts to compile listings of threatened plants and animals are developing (1 ), current views of timing of recovery from anthropogenic extinctions suggest that many millions of years will be required for replenishment to present-day levels (2 ). The establishment and scientific management of nature reserves and national parks in as many parts of the world as possible is imperative. This is especially true for the tropics, where the largest numbers of threatened and endangered species may reside. Major efforts to preserve biological diversity are under way through habitat conservation; other in situ support; living collections as maintained in botanical gardens, arboreta, and zoological parks; gamete and seed banks for species of agricultural interest; and the amassing and documentation of museum specimens. However, relatively little effort has been made to collect and document DNA specimens as genetic resources. Yet, the most fundamental derivative of a species is the information in its genome, currently most easily preserved in the form of purified high-molecular-weight DNA. Although the lack of emphasis on genetic resource collections, especially DNA banks, may be considered appropriate in the context of current conservation priorities, the lack of knowledge about their existence and the biodiversity they encompass hinders current study, may place inappropriate pressure on natural populations, and leaves the present generation ignorant about a portion of its legacy to the future. Genetic resource collections now provide essential tools that facilitate scientific study. For example, the comparisons of intraspecific diversity between humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas are enriching our understanding of human evolution (3 ). Studies of mitochondrial diversity have been used in coalescent dating to determine the evolutionary time back to a single ancestor for the cheetah (4 ) and for felids. In behavioral ecology, scientists interested in determining whether female sea turtles return to the same beaches when nesting have relied on DNA restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) (5 ). In the foreseeable future, DNA sequencing will be fully automated, and our descendants will be able rapidly to derive the sequence of any organism whose DNA has been appropriately collected and stockpiled. If sufficient genomes are available, they will be able not only to reconstruct what the organism was like, but also what its ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Current Issue Previous Issues Science Express Science Products My Science About the Journal Home > Science Magazine > 14 April 2000 > Ryder et al., pp. 275 - 277