Program areas at Revive and Restore
Launched in 2019, the advanced coral toolkit supports the development and field testing of new biotechnologies that have the potential to greatly benefit coral resilience and restoration efforts. In 2023, our advanced coral toolkit scientists announced the first successful technique for cryopreserving and reviving entire coral fragments. This proof-of-concept project, funded by Revive & Restore, opens the door to rapid, large-scale coral biobanking that will safeguard remaining genetic diversity and prevent further loss.
Since 2013, Revive & Restore has been working to develop solutions to the threats challenging the endangered black-footed ferret: low genetic diversity and sylvatic plague. In 2023, with funding from the us fish & wildlife service and morris animal foundation, we've launched two cutting-edge projects to address both threats.
Our vision with the biotechnology for bird conservation program is to create and deploy the genetic rescue toolkit for endangered and extinct birds in a world increasingly shaped by human-driven change. We have assembled the world's leading scientists to leverage biomedical advances made with domestic chickens and innovate entirely new systems to create versatile pathways for the recovery of birds. We have funded 12+ projects supporting the development of new biotechnologies that will enable the restoration of genetic diversity, facilitate adaptation, and achieve de-extinction.
In 2023, we launched a groundbreaking initiative, informed biobanking, to biobank u.s. Endangered species in partnership with the u.s. Fish & wildlife service. As a proof of concept, we set a bold objective to sequence and biobank cell lines for 25 u.s. Endangered mammals. Two new cohorts of wild genomes awardees were announced in partnership with the morris animal foundation, bringing the portfolio up to 32 projects applying genome sequencing to conservation. 2023 awardees had two focal areas: amphibians and kelp forest ecosystems. To stimulate much-needed advances in stem cell technologies, Revive & Restore convened 45 global leaders in stem cell science to identify opportunities for bringing stem cell technologies to wildlife conservation. Throughout the 3-day workshop, experts were paired in collaborative exercises to reimagine the future of wildlife conservation.