Kendriya Vidyalaya Sambalpur    

         

 Master    RAMAKRUSHNA SWAIN    

STATE LEVEL SCIENCE EXHIBITION-2010

 

LUNAR GENE BANK FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES

I)                  Introduction

i)                   Rationale behind construction of the exhibit

Over the next 50 years, 15-30% of the estimated 5-10 million species may disappear due to human pressures. The losses include hundreds of vertebrate, hundreds of thousands of plant and over a million insect species. The gene pools of many human ethnic groups are also threatened. For many animals, adequate conservation of habitat is unfeasible and active breeding programmes cover only 175 of the many thousand species threatened. The genetic heritage of the living world, accumulated during aeons of revolution, is being wasted in a short period.

Against such losses, scientists are starting cryopreservation programmes of genetic material as germplasms. During centuries, incidents of war, sabotage, disasters, economic depression or just loss of interest may disrupt the precise cryopreservation process leading to destruction of precious germplasm samples. Fortunately, the climatic and strategic location of lunar polar crater is adequately hospitable, remote and free of maintenance and human observation.

ii)                The scientific principle involved.

The basic scientific principle incorporated into the exhibit is permanent cryopreservation of the germplasms of endangered species. The required equilibrium temperatures exist at lunar polar crates where temperature is permanently below -200⁰C naturally and hence doesn’t require expensive refrigeration and the storage deposits will be free of maintenance. As little as 2 grams of preserved material can save a species. A realistic payload of 2000 kg can save one million species. With future launch costs of $1000-$10000/kg, as little as $2M-20M can save the genetic heritage of a million species for millenniums.

 

The steps for performing the required DNA-Isolation are as follows:

1.   Isolation of DNA fragments from the required organism.(INSERT)

2.                                                        Generation of rDNA molecules(rDNA=Vector+Insert).

3.                                                        Transfer of rDNA into an appropriate host cell.

4.                                                        Selection of host cell carrying the desired rDNA molecule

 

LIST OF TOPPERS ---2010-11 CLASS XII-Science

MOHIT PADHEE 301 089  042 098  043 096  041 099 083 096 Pass percentage = 95.30%