Petition for a determination on Ntombi's sample!
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The Black Rhino Genome Project is rapidly approaching its one-year anniversary, so we thought we should give you, its backers, a long overdue update.
To recap, the project's funds were transferred to the University of Washington in late August. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Charles Murry's lab applied for two permits in order to legally bring Ntombi's ear notch into the United States. The application for the first of these, an import permit, was submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The second application, for an export permit, ended up at South Africa's Department of Environmental Affairs.
Normally, one would expect a permit review to take 60 days. In the University's case, over 250 days have passed without an official response! We still want Ntombi to make history, but that won't happen if these delays continue. Thus, we're asking you to voice your concern to Edna Molewa, South Africa's Minister of Environmental Affairs.
An example email suitable for sending to the Minister follows.
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To: zmngadi@environment.gov.za Subject: Request to expedite a permit review for the Black Rhino Genome Project
Dear Minister Molewa (c/o Ms. Zanele Mngadi):
I am a citizen scientist who donated to the Black Rhino Genome Project in July of 2015. This project has $17,292 committed to it from 170+ backers. The goal of the project is to have Dr. Charles Murry at the University of Washington sequence the genome of Ntombi, a black rhino living in South Africa. The resultant genetic code is then going to be made available to the public. This is a historic project, and it mirrors the sequencing work done on the southern white rhinoceros in 2012 by the Broad Institute. The only difference is that the Broad Institute obtained its sample from a zoo instead of from South Africa.
I am writing to you now because over 250 days have passed since the University of Washington applied for a permit to export an ear notch sample taken from Ntombi. The excessive wait has delayed the project, and I beseech you to help expedite the permit review process.
Sincerely, [INSERT NAME] https://experiment.com/projects/sequencing-the-black-rhinoceros-genome
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A contingency plan exists should we not prevail in getting the permit review process expedited. Already, Dr. Charles Murry's lab has received a putative black rhinoceros artifact from a zoological collection. A graduate student has derived DNA from this artifact. Next, certain regions of mitochondrial DNA will be amplified and a phylogenetic analysis will be conducted to confirm the sample is from a black rhinoceros. If things go according to plan, this DNA may be sequenced instead of Ntombi's DNA; although, everyone would prefer to carry out the project as it was originally conceived.
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