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Saving The Sumatran Rhino | Earth Wise

January 2, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Sumatran rhinoceros is the smallest and most ancient rhino species and is the only surviving species with hair.  It is critically endangered.  Because of poaching and habitat destruction, there are fewer than 50 of them left in the wild and those are scattered in the rainforests of Sumatra and the Indonesian part of Borneo.  Mating encounters between surviving males and females are increasingly rare.

The last male Sumatran rhino in Malaysia died in 2019 but cell samples from that individual are the basis of an ambitious effort in bioengineering.

Researchers from the Max Delbruck Center in Germany are taking skin cells from the deceased rhino and turning them into stem cells.  The hope is to use these stem cells to derive egg and sperm cells to be the basis of assisted reproduction.  Fertilization would take place in a petri dish.  The resultant embryos would then be carried to term by surrogate rhino mothers.

The researchers have reported success generating induced pluripotent stem cells or IPS cells from the rhino skin samples.  IPS cells are able to divide indefinitely and can transform into any cell type in the body.

The next step is to try to cultivate primordial germ cells – the precursors of eggs and sperm.

This work is going on because it is increasingly difficult to preserve the Sumatran rhino population by gathering together remaining individuals in wildlife Reserves.  Females that have not been pregnant for a long time often become infertile because of cyst growth on their reproductive organs, and some are just too old to bear young.

It may take extraordinary efforts like these to save these animals from extinction.

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A second chance for the Sumatran rhino

Photo, posted April 30, 2008, courtesy of Willem V. Strien via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Synthetic Palm Oil | Earth Wise

February 18, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Palm oil is the world’s cheapest and most widely used vegetable oil.  Producing it is a primary driver of deforestation and biodiversity loss in the tropics.  In Borneo, for example, oil palm cultivation has accounted for more than half of all deforestation over the past two decades.   More than one million square miles of biodiversity hotspots could be threatened by oil palm cultivation, which could potentially affect more than 40% of all threatened bird, mammal, and amphibian species.

Today, the world consumes over 70 million tons of palm oil each year, used in products ranging from toothpaste and oat milk to biodiesel and laundry detergent.

Given this situation, there are now multiple companies developing microbial oils that might offer an alternative to palm oil while avoiding its most destructive impacts.

A company called C16 Biosciences is working on the problem in Manhattan, backed by $20 million from a Bill Gates’ climate solutions investment fund.  A California-based startup called Kiverdi is working to manufacture yeast oil using carbon captured from the atmosphere. 

Xylome, a Wisconsin-based startup is working to produce a palm oil alternative that they call “Yoil”, produced by a proprietary strain of yeast.  The oil from the yeast strain is remarkably similar to palm oil. 

The challenge is to be able to produce microbial oils at large scale and at a competitive price.  Unless valuable co-products could be manufactured along with the oil, it may be difficult to compete with palm oil.  Without regulatory pressures and willingness of consumers to pay more, it may be difficult to replace palm oil in many of its applications.

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Can Synthetic Palm Oil Help Save the World’s Tropical Forests?

Photo, posted December 9, 2008, courtesy of Fitri Agung via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Endangered Orangutans

March 20, 2018 By EarthWise 1 Comment

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/EW-03-20-18-Endangered-Orangutans.mp3

Orangutans are some of the planet’s most intelligent animals.  In fact, orangutans and human beings share 97% of their DNA sequence.  Orangutans can only be found in the wild in Southeast Asia on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the island of Borneo, which is a landmass shared by Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.  And while all orangutans are endangered, the critically-endangered Bornean orangutans are under exceptional duress. 

[Read more…] about Endangered Orangutans

A New Orangutan Species

November 29, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/EW-11-29-17-A-New-Orangutan-Species.mp3

Orangutans are some of the planet’s most intelligent animals.  In fact, orangutans and human beings share 97% of their DNA sequence.  Orangutans can only be found in the wild on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the island of Borneo, which is a land mass shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. 

[Read more…] about A New Orangutan Species

Palm Oil Progress

July 21, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/EW-07-21-17-Palm-Oil-Progress.mp3

According to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil or RSPO, almost 12 million tons, or 21% of the global supply of palm oil, is now certified as responsible and sustainable.  The massive expansion of palm oil plantations has been one of the primary causes of global deforestation.  This has been especially the case in Borneo, where 85% of global palm oil production takes place.

[Read more…] about Palm Oil Progress

Saving Borneo’s Forest

July 3, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/EW-07-03-17-Saving-Borneos-Forest.mp3

Borneo is the third-largest island in the world, home to part of Indonesia, part of Malaysia, and the small sultanate of Brunei.   It is also home to the oldest forest on earth – 130 million years old – which is more than twice as old as the Amazon rain forest.

[Read more…] about Saving Borneo’s Forest

The Plight Of Orangutans

August 1, 2016 By WAMC WEB

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/EW-08-01-16-The-Plight-of-Orangutans.mp3

Orangutans – one of the planet’s most intelligent animals – can only be found in the wild on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the island of Borneo, which is a land mass shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.  And for years conservationists have been warning that measures put in place to protect orangutans have been failing.  And they were correct.  It was recently declared that orangutans are officially headed for extinction.

[Read more…] about The Plight Of Orangutans

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