There are no biblical floods in the forecast, but Russian scientists plan to build the Noah's Ark of modern biology — complete with DNA samples from every creature on earth.
To create the epic time capsule, Russia's Moscow State University scored $194 million in grant money — the country's largest fund for science ever — to freeze and store the genetic goodies for possible use in the future, the TASS Russian News Agency reported.
"If it's realized, this will be a leap in Russian history as the first nation to create an actual Noah's Ark of sorts," said Viktor Sadivnichy, of MSU. "It will involve the creation of a depository — a databank for the storing of every living thing on Earth, including not only living, but disappearing and extinct organisms . . . This is the challenge we have set for ourselves," he said.
He added, "It will enable us to cryogenically freeze and store various cellular materials, which can then reproduce. It will also contain information systems. Not everything needs to
be kept in a Petri dish."
The program's target date for operation is 2018, Sadivnichy said. It will be stocked with biological materials from all of the university's branches, including the Botanical Garden, the Anthropological Museum, the Zoological Museum and others.
All of the departments will be tasked with collecting materials.
The university hopes the project excites younger generations of scientists, Sadivnichy said.
It's not the first time scientists abroad have floated ideas centering on the classic Noah's Ark Bible tale.
In 2004, the Zoological Society of London and Nottingham University launched a Frozen Ark project to preserve all endangered life forms to prepare for "sixth mass extinction" — in which animals disappear from the earth at a high rate.
The project, which was the first of its kind, was inspired by the theory that scientists will someday use cloning technologies to revive extinct species.
In the Bible, Noah builds a gigantic ark to save his family and all of the world's animals from a great flood.
The Russian project — which will require much less carpentry — will be located in the Research and Technology Valley wing of the university.
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