Because living cells can be saved for indefinite periods, unprecedented opportunities for characterizing, cataloging, and conserving biological diversity have emerged as advanced cellular and genetic technologies portend new options for preventing species extinction. Crucial to realizing the potential impacts of stem cells and assisted reproductive technologies on biodiversity conservation is the cryobanking of viable cell cultures from diverse species, especially those identified as vulnerable to extinction in the near future. The advent of in vitro cell culture and cryobanking is reviewed here in the context of biodiversity collections of viable cell cultures that represent the progress and limitations of current efforts. The prospects for incorporating collections of frozen viable cell cultures into efforts to characterize the genetic changes that have produced the diversity of species on Earth and contribute to new initiatives in conservation argue strongly for a global network of facilities for establishing and cryobanking collections of viable cells.

中文翻译：

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生物多样性表征和保护的可行细胞培养库。

由于可以无限期地保存活细胞，因此随着先进的细胞和遗传技术为防止物种灭绝提供了新的选择，出现了表征，分类和保护生物多样性的前所未有的机会。认识到干细胞和辅助生殖技术对生物多样性保护的潜在影响，至关重要的是将来自不同物种的活细胞培养物冷冻库，尤其是在不久的将来被确定为易灭绝物种的细胞培养物。在这里，在活细胞培养的生物多样性集合背景下回顾了体外细胞培养和冷冻库的出现，这代表了当前工作的进展和局限。