DENVER — Black-footed ferret recovery efforts aimed at increased genetic diversity and disease resistance took a bold step forward Dec. 10, 2020, with the birth of “Elizabeth Ann,” created from the frozen cells of “Willa,” a black-footed ferret that lived more than 30 years ago.

In a study that has unprecedented implications to advance both medicine and biodiversity conservation, researchers have sequenced 131 new placental mammal genomes, bringing the worldwide total to more than 250.

Genomes help us answer long-standing questions about Pacific pocket mice. 

How, in fact, do we count tigers?