Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology unit setting up a frozen zoo' of genes

Hyderabad: CCMB’s Lacones unit is developing a frozen zoo. This essentially means a bank of frozen genetic material of wild animals, such as cells, tissue, DNA, oocytes and spermatozoa.

Lacones scientist-in-charge Dr Karthikeyan Vasudevan said, :We have prepared a database of genetic material of several wildlife species using cryopreservation. We are working to develop a frozen zoo. It will be a national repository of wildlife species that will be available for future research.”

Lacones is working on a method to preserve genetic material. “So far we have been using foetal bovine serum for cryo preservation. We are working on using sterile serum from the eye of the buffalo as a cryprotectant,” Vasudevan said.

The frozen zoo is on the lines of the one in San Diego, which was the first such zoo, established by Dr Kurth Benirschke, in 1975. It will be set up on its Attapur complex.