Axolotl: Saving a Strange Salamander
Axolotls are used to study cancer development and organ regeneration, but their numbers in the wild are dwindling. Conserving wild salamanders could be vital for research—and the future of this special species.
This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on November 24, 2017. It is a Nature Video production.
By Nature Video
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
Axolotls are found in labs and homes all over the world, but are critically endangered in their natural habitat. If they go extinct in the wild, this could spell bad news for research on these remarkable regenerating salamanders.
Listen to a podcast interview with axolotl researcher Luis Zambrano here: http://www.nature.com/nature/podcast/index-2017-11-09.html
And read more in this in-depth feature: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-017-05921-w
Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism
Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.
When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.
Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber
