“Turning animal poo into offspring sounds like a zoo keeper’s conjuring trick, but it might become a reality if researchers succeed in a new project to help save endangered animals from extinction. …

Now researchers are exploring whether they can use dung to capture – and harness – animals’ genetic diversity.

Hailed “the poo zoo”, the project is based on a simple premise: besides being rich in undigested food, bacteria and bile, poo also contains cells from the creature that deposited it, shed from the lining of their intestines.

Crucially, research has suggested some of these cells within the poo are still alive – at least when the deposit is fresh.”

From The Guardian.