Animal gene bank would help preserve nation’s bio-diversity
Date: 27.1.2007
Vietnam plans to establish an animal gene bank by 2007. Dr Bui Xuan Nguyen from the Institute of Bio-technology spoke with Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper about the bio-tech bank.
Will the bank give priority to preserving species under threat of extinction?
The bank will keep stock of genes of all rare and precious animals including wild and native animals. For example, species under threat of extinction include the Saola (a wild bovine animal), Peccary (Mexican hog) and Bos banteng.
With the rapid speed of developments in biological technology and reproductive bio-technology, the bank hopes to conserve the nation’s bio-diversity and also hopefully improve the living standards of people in bio-diversified preservation areas.
Taking into account present conditions, will the bank actually be launched next year?
It is a realistic target.
After many years of studying the developments in reproductive technology and preservation by freezing, and two years after organising national and regional conferences, we have prepared and completed plans on technology, experts and a national and regional collaboration network.
We now have a mini-bank where samples are stored at minus 169 decree Celsius. We store samples of eggs, vegetative cells and Saola, roe-deer, bos banteng, peccary, stag and bear embryos, which are able to be used in vitro-sterilisation or cloning. There are some positive results in growing a goat embryo which has been preserved for more than 12 years and creating strong embryos from the cells of a dead Saola.
With the participation of more than 40 national gardens in Viet Nam and support from foreign organisations and experts, every necessary condition has been prepared. The most important thing for us now is support from the State with a moderate investment in the building of the bank and allowing operation of technologies in the laboratory and recovering animals before returning them to their natural habitats.
In your opinion, will the target of generalising cloning reproduction in livestock breeding be feasible?
This idea was one of the targets in a VND1trillion plan on bio-technology issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. But this is an unrealisable thing, even in developed countries the success rate in cloning reproduction still remains low, at below 10 per cent. In Japan, the rate has reached nearly 40 per cent for animals such as rats. Therefore this method is only used with the aim of protecting rare and precious species, species at risk of extinction.
As for animals, the application of technology such as cloning should be used for special breeds of animals. In addition, in Viet Nam this technology is very new, there is only our lab working on cloning but it has not received enough investment.
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