A few years ago we were enormously fortunate to meet the remarkable Professor Bryan Clarke and his wife Dr Ann Clarke, founders of the Frozen Ark Project, an organisation which aims to collect and save tissues containing DNA from animals facing extinction and to store these valuable specimens for posterity. This would allow future generations of scientists to study past animals and possibly to recreate and clone them if they were extinct. The Frozen Ark is the first to begin this preservation process.

Sadly Bryan recently passed away and we’d like to take this opportunity to celebrate the work he did with Ann and the team as well as help raise awareness of a fund raising campaign the Frozen Ark Project is currently running. Please help The Frozen Ark, save species, one cell at a time….

“One cell at a time!? Yes, right now, all over the world, there is a group of scientists taking crucial steps to preserve the DNA samples,  embryonic tissues and other live cell samples of endangered animals. This effort goes along with and supports traditional methods of animal conservation.

Species are now dying out at a rate faster than during the last great extinction that killed off all the dinosaurs. This is mainly due to man made reasons like climate change, loss of habitat and poaching for medicines.  It is estimated that around 10,500 species are currently under direct threat of extinction. During the past decade The Frozen Ark consortium has collected approximately 48,000 samples, from over 5,500 species worldwide, all in a collaboration with zoos, museums and universities. These genetic samples are then cryogenically stored and immortalized for the future.

This genetic material is priceless for the knowledge that is encoded in the DNA and once technology advances far enough who knows what we may be able to do with it, this could include de-extinction and new medical applications.

We want to complete our mission of collecting all the samples from endangered species worldwide before they go extinct – as once they are gone they are gone forever.

We urgently need your support!  Our mission is to collect and store these samples for future generations, It requires money to get the samples and money to keep them frozen, as well as keeping the structures in place that can organize collection and sample storage.”

For donors outside the USA wishing to receive tax deduction please use this link to donate  https://www.justgiving.com/frozenark/

or visit the website www.frozenark.org