Preserving Earth’s species

A team of scientists have suggested a way to protect endangered species on Earth – by sending frozen samples of skin cells to the Moon. Cells are the tiny units that make up all living things. Experts at the American Institute of Biological Sciences have suggested storing the frozen samples in a special facility. There are already facilities like this on Earth, including Svalbard Global Seed Vault, north of Norway (see panel). Some seed banks are created to help with research but the lunar facility (the one planned for the Moon) would be used to bring wildlife species back if they went extinct. The cell samples from animals would be kept safe using a method called “cryopreservation”. This is when living cells or tissues are stored at extremely low temperatures…

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The Week Junior (UK) (Digital) - 1 Issue, 453

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