Scientists have discovered a new way to help animal conservation. New research has discovered that Giant Panda connective tissue cells can be used to eventually create a lab grown embryo, which will help increase their vulnerable population. 

Panda skin cells are being used to create specialized stem cells, called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), that are able to be turned into gametes. These specialized cells, iPSCs, are able to transform into any of the three layers needed for embryonic development, endoderm, ectoderm, and mesoderm. 

This means they can replicate around 200 different cell types in the body. Gametes are reproductive cells including egg cells and sperm. This greatly advances the technology used in assisted reproduction, specifically for Giant Pandas.

The differing in biology of different species, even in the mammalian classification, changes what methods they use and how it will affect them. The experiments that worked in human and mouse tests, didn’t work for the panda cells, and the tests done on the panda cells would not work for another species.

Originally scientists created stem cells from Giant Panda cheek cells, but the pluripotent cells were unable to be created, despite their success in other species. This is when stem cell biologist, Jing Liu, was requested to make these iPSCs from fibroblasts instead of the cheek cells. 

They took panda fibroblast cells, which are connective tissue cells, and turned them into iPSCs by forcing the expression of specific genes to turn them into early embryonic cells. They further specialized these cells by introducing a macroRNA type that was specific to the Giant Panda species. This allowed the iPSCs to duplicate, which is essential in the development of this research. 

So far they have found the conditions so that the iPSCs can stay in the same state for longer. The long term goal is to be able to create sperm and oocytes with these stem cells to make a fertilized egg. These advancements in the field will eventually create lab grown animals to help curb the decline of endangered species. 

Giant Pandas were put on the endangered species list in 1990. This was due to discoveries of their declining population, mainly due to rapid habitat loss. In 2016, their status was reevaluated and they were downgraded from an endangered to a vulnerable species. They had a 17% population increase from their last evaluation in 2014. Their growing numbers are thanks to China’s efforts of reforestation and protecting existing habitats. 

This is just an advancement in technology, but has not yet been fully grown. They need to reliably be able to create mature functional gametes before they can fully utilize this technology in animal conservation.