Endangered Poo Bao, Will Free Breeding Be Possible... Chinese Research Team "Successful Stem Cell Culture"

Expecting Contributions to Breeding and Disease Research of Pandas and Other Endangered Species

Chinese scientists have succeeded in culturing stem cells of the endangered giant panda, marking a new turning point for the breeding and conservation of pandas and other endangered animals.

On the 24th, Yonhap News reported research results from the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base in China, citing the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP). The research team recently published a related paper in the scientific journal Science Advances.

Giant panda at an Indonesian zoo
Photo by Xinhua / Yonhap News

Wild pandas number about 2,000 and are threatened by logging and road construction. The research team warned, "More than 90% of some panda populations are endangered, making it essential to preserve panda genetic resources."

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are self-renewing cells, can regenerate into various cell types. They are created by reprogramming somatic cells taken from skin and hair.

The researchers pointed out that although there are already technologies to isolate and preserve certain panda cell types, including some cells found in bone marrow and umbilical cords that can differentiate into other variants, the limited proliferation capacity and weak differentiation ability of these cells pose difficulties in applying them to giant panda research.

They further explained that iPSCs provide an inexhaustible resource of self-renewal taken from endangered species, capable of regenerating various cell types as needed.

Dr. Zhang Sihao, co-first author of the paper, said, "iPSCs have the potential for self-renewal and multidirectional differentiation and can differentiate into various cell types, including mesenchymal stem cells." Mesenchymal stem cells can differentiate into various cell types such as bone, cartilage, muscle, and fat.

Currently, it is estimated that there are 2,000 giant pandas in the wild. Originally, wild pandas were known as the "recluses of the bamboo forest," living only in limited areas of deep valleys, making them unfamiliar animals to people.

Pandas began to attract public attention in 1869 when French missionary Armand David, who was collecting plant and animal specimens in Baoxing County, Sichuan Province, China, received a panda skin as a gift from a hunter.

When this panda skin was first exhibited at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, a "panda craze" swept the West. Today, like many other endangered species, giant pandas face survival threats due to human activities.