Featured This Week:
How DNA can help track endangered tigers.
The unique and digital future of sperm donation.
CNN revives Marilyn Monroe in four-part series.
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VIDEO: Researchers test a breakthrough way to track tigers |
DNA from paw prints may help scientists track endangered tiger populations |
The number of tigers in captivity in America outnumbers the number of tigers in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Federation.
This Sunday's episode of This is Life with Lisa Ling introduces us to the journalists, activists, scientists and conservationists trying to eliminate tiger exploitation and restore endangered populations worldwide.
At the San Diego Zoo, researchers are testing a new method for tracking tigers by looking at their paw prints. Using a small electrophoresis device connected to a smartphone, researchers like Mrinalini Watsa can detect the DNA of a specific tiger by examining its print in the soil.
It's an approach she hopes will make tracking and counting wild tigers easier.
"Now, instead of saying we've seen about 40 prints in this three-kilometer-square (1.8-mile-square) area, you can see those 40 prints come down to four tigers, which gives us so much more power in how we count them," Watsa says.
Tiger numbers have increased 40% in seven years, from 3,200 in 2015 to 4,500 in 2022, according to the latest estimates released in July by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
This promising population growth has been hailed as a conservation success story, Watsa and other tiger experts say it's not mission accomplished. Tigers are still hold endangered status on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species and are a fraction of the 100,000-strong population at the beginning of the 20th century.
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This Sunday at 10 p.m. ET/PT, This is Life with Lisa Ling explores the condition of American tigers living in captivity. Ling visits the backwoods of Arkansas to discover the fate of hundreds of tigers bred and held captive by Joe Exotic, aka Joseph Maldonado-Passage, from Netflix's Tiger King.
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VIDEO: Mom explains why she used free sperm on Facebook to grow her family |
Got sperm? A look at the future of sperm donation. |
Welcome to the world of online sperm donation, where mothers uninterested in in-person sperm banks meet donors online.
This Sunday at 9 p.m. ET, Lisa Ling meets Ari Nagel, a serial sperm donor who has fathered more than 117 children. While most sperm banks in the US keep donors anonymous, Nagel is a part of the Known Donor Registry — an online platform that puts a face to a fertility treatment otherwise driven by anonymity.
Some have turned to a Facebook group with more than 20,000 members opting into online sperm donation. These digital communities make it easy for recipients to acquaint themselves with their donors through pictures and a list of all their offspring. It's a move that empowers sperm recipients with a sense of agency and transparency when it comes to their futures as mothers.
"I always knew I wanted to have kids, and I always knew I wanted to be a single mom by choice. I never had a husband when I played with Barbies at eight and nine years old. I didn't envision that," said Elaine Byrd, a kindergarten teacher. "I get to make all the decisions."
The other benefit: most of the donors do not charge for their sperm. The recipient covers travel expenses — hotel, gas, etc.
Sperm banks, on the other hand, are big businesses. They charge about $1,000 for a vial of sperm. It takes the average woman between four to eight vials to get pregnant, and health insurance usually won’t pitch in.
Check out This Is Life with Lisa Ling this Sunday at 9 p.m. ET to learn more.
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CNN revives Marilyn Monroe's life and legacy from an all-women point of view |
Marilyn Monroe is often remembered as Hollywood's "blonde bombshell" —
attractive, but often dismissed.
She became America's darling, dazzling audiences with her convincing on-screen portrayals. However, unlike many assumed, Monroe was more than a pretty face. She was a trailblazer.
“She was whip-smart, witty, ambitious, strategic and above all, incredibly courageous,” said Sam Starbuck, executive producer of the CNN Original Series, Reframed: Marilyn Monroe. “She knew her worth, and she refused to be dominated by the male studio bosses in Hollywood. She challenged the status quo, turning the tables on them time and time again, and winning.”
The four-part series, airing this Saturday from 11 p.m. until 2 a.m. ET, revisits Monroe's story from a female perspective. The series explores themes of feminism, sexuality and power imminent in Monroe's life that continue to drive cultural conversations today.
For more on the trailblazing actress, check out:
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This edition was written and edited by Janelle Davis and Alexis Garfield. |
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