So I’ve been taking biology classes this year and it made me learn some pretty interesting stuff regarding things like meiosis and whatnot, stuff like how, at least in the case of humans, you can have XY chromosomes and be biologically female, if the Y chromosome is defunct for whatever reason. and, if I’m correct, you could hypothetically make a fertilized zygote just by combining the chromosomes of two daughter cells in meiosis II, rather than specifically needing a “male” and “female” cell (in the case of biologically female XY people, they can still make viable children)
It made me wonder about swinhoe’s turtle, specifically with the last two individuals remaining (excluding the possible turtle in xuan khanh lake), who both are male.
Is there some way in which their genetic information can be conbined and make baby turtles? Of course you can’t just put two.sperm cells together, but like in a lab or something, could two cells from the turtles have their genetic information be combined in a way that makes a viable zygote? And if this is the case, I doubt I’m the first person to think of it–so has it been attempted before, and/or will it ever be attempted in the future?
I’m no expert here, I’m hoping someone can help clear this out for me. Thanks!
Technology is improving. I’m not expert also. This kind of technology is out of reach for the man on the street. There are big pharma corporations with interest in human diseases. There are scientific equipment companies with links to these big pharmas. There are universities and researchers out to make a name for themselves. Saving turtles is possible. The main problem is probably the funding.
The next problem is the species is in two countries currently or previously in conflict with the western governments. Not openly in conflict, but with some levels of antagonistic sentiments. Mainly China. Situations now seems better in Vietnam. Last year , China had very bad environmental situations, droughts and massive flooding. Big rivers and reservoirs almost dried up. I see videos of people collecting fishes easily. I’ve never been there before. With sporadic sightings of that turtle species in Vietnam. I think researchers should post advertisement for captive live specimens in vietnam and other countries with good rewards. Then gather the stock to a big pond breeding facility. Rare fishes and animals have been brought out of the Red list with better understanding of the creatures’ behaviour and husbandry technique.
Another route is cloning technology. This is the advanced technology that is out of reach. Only developed countries have that. There is cell culture with stem cells. Researchers may extract stem cells and work with it. Put under cryopreservation the stem cells or sperm cells, and hope for the discoveries of other living specimens.
The above is just some wild thoughts. It is beyond my ability to make it work.