Several tissue banks have come into existence, including the "Frozen zoo" at the San Diego Zoo, to store frozen tissue from the world's rarest and most endangered species. This is also referred to as "Conservation cloning".
Engineers have proposed a "lunar ark" in 2021 – storing millions of seed, spore, sperm and egg samples from Earth's contemporary species in a network of lava tubes on the Moon as a genetic backup. Similar proposals have been made since at least 2008. These also include sending human customer DNA, and a proposal for "a lunar backup record of humanity" that includes genetic information by Avi Loeb et al.
Scientists at the University of Newcastle and University of New South Wales announced in March 2013 that the very recently extinct gastric-brooding frog would be the subject of a cloning attempt to resurrect the species.
Many such "De-extinction" projects are being championed by the non-profit Revive & Restore.