White Rhino | 20 Jan 2020

Researchers have created an embryo of the northern white rhino by using In vitro Fertilization (IVF) process.

White rhinos are the second largest land mammal after the elephant.
White rhinos are also known as the square-lipped rhinoceros due to their square (not pointed) upper lip.
Two genetically different subspecies exist, the northern and southern white rhino and are found in two different regions in Africa.
The IUCN Status of White Rhino is Near Threatened. The IUCN status of its subspecies is as follows:
- Northern White Rhino: Critically Endangered
- Southern White Rhino: Near Threatened
There is also the black (or hook-lipped) rhinoceros in Africa, which too, is fighting for survival, and at least three of whose subspecies are already extinct. It is critically endangered in the IUCN Red list.
The Indian rhinoceros is different from its African cousins, most prominently in that it has only one horn. It is vulnerable in the IUCN Red list.
There is also a Javan rhino, which too, has one horn, and a Sumatran rhino which, like the African rhinos, has two horns. Both Javan and Sumatran Rhino are critically endangered in the IUCN Red list.

IVF is one of the more widely known types of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).
In vitro comes from the latin word ‘in glass’, i.e. studies are done in a test tube rather than in a human or animal.
- The opposite to ‘In-vitro’ is ‘In-vivo’, which comes from the latin word ‘within the living’. In vivo refers to experimentation being done in a living organism.
In vitro means outside the body. Fertilization means the sperm has attached to and entered the egg.
During IVF, mature eggs are collected (retrieved) from the ovaries and fertilized by sperm in a lab. Then the fertilized egg (embryo) or eggs (embryos) are transferred to a uterus.