Meet Elizabeth Ann, the world’s first cloned black-footed ferret. Her genetics are derived from an ancestor who died nearly 40 years ago. Once feared extinct, captive breeding programs helped save this species. Today, both captive and reintroduced populations descend from just seven distinct genetic “founder” animals, so this limited genetic diversity has always been a concern in the captive breeding program. The introduction of new, and unrepresented genetic material may provide a significant b