Advanced Cell Technology has performed research on cloning endangered species through a technology called “Inter-species Nuclear Transfer”. This technology differs from normal cloning in that the egg cell is provided by a related (usually domestic) species, and the pregnancy is carried in an animal other than the endangered animal. This technology could be used to preserve endangered species without the need to breed the animals in captivity. Advanced Cell Technology demonstrated the feasibility of this approach in January of 2001, with the birth of Noah, the first endangered animal born by inter-species nuclear transfer.
Cloning of an Endangered Species (Bos gaurus) Using Interspecies Nuclear Transfer, Cloning, 2(2):79-90, 2000
Cloning Noah’s Ark – Biotechnology might offer the best way to keep some endangered species from disappearing from the planet, Scientific American,283 (5):84-89, 2000