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SUMMARY:Building the Genetic Rescue Toolkit
LOCATION:Bio 136
TZID:America/Denver
DTSTART:20220913T160000
UID:2026-04-22-04-00-04@natsci.colostate.edu
DTSTAMP:20260422T040004
Description:We are living in a time of unprecedented advances in biotechnol
 ogy in the fields of medicine and agriculture. At Revive &amp\; Restore\, 
 we believe that biotechnology can also create opportunities for solving so
 me of wildlife conservation’s most challenging problems\, including gene
 tic bottlenecks\, wildlife diseases\, climate change\, and invasive specie
 s. While the term “genetic rescue” has been used in conservation for s
 everal decades\, we prefer an expansive definition that includes the use o
 f advanced biotechnologies. With the increasing affordability of genomic s
 equencing and the advent of CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology\, there is
  an opportunity to develop a suite of innovative new genetic rescue applic
 ations. To that end\, we are building a Genetic Rescue Toolkit that has th
 e potential to advance and complement conventional conservation practice. 
 We launched the Catalyst Science Fund in 2018 to support transformative ea
 rly-stage bioscience research and proof-of-concept projects that can be ap
 plied to high-value\, high-impact conservation challenges and build out th
 e genetic rescue toolkit. Any genetic rescue application\, for any species
 \, can benefit from two things: One\, the sequencing of a high-quality ref
 erence genome of that species\; and two\, the biobanking of a source of vi
 able cells or tissue accessioned into a biorepository for future research.
  These foundational resources can accelerate conservation efforts. Yet the
 se basic\, non-controversial\, readily obtainable tools are still lacking 
 for most wildlife species. We started the Wild Genomes program\, to advanc
 e the adoption of genomic sequencing and tissue biobanking for applied wil
 dlife conservation. Other\, more complex genetic rescue applications requi
 re genetic engineering and gene editing tools. These tools can help increa
 se genetic diversity and facilitate adaptation\, control invasives\, and e
 ven bring species back from extinction (see our Black Footed Ferret Projec
 t\, Advanced Coral Toolkit program\, and Biotech for Bird Conservation pro
 gram). While these applications are not without controversy and will requi
 re concerted effort to develop\, we are in support of the development of a
 ll the tools in the toolkit and their effective\, ethical use. To truly su
 cceed\, Genetic Rescue Toolkit applications must complement proven conserv
 ation approaches\, such as habitat restoration and protection\, resource m
 anagement\, invasive species control\, captive breeding\, adaptive conditi
 oning\, translocations\, reintroductions\, policy and advocacy\, and ecolo
 gical replacement. 4:00 pm
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