Establishment of the immortalized cell line derived from Okinawa rail (endangered species)
(WorldNews Environment)

As part of the cellular conservation of endangered species, our group initiated a primary cell culture project aimed at preserving endangered avian species in Japan, such as the Okinawa rail. However, primary cells cannot be cultured indefinitely because of cellular senescence and stresses caused by cell culture. To overcome these cell culture limitations, primary cells must be immortalized. As a result, we succeeded to obtain the immortalized avian cells with cell cycle regulation genes expression. ......