Friday, March 29

Tasmanian tiger resurrection? Scientists try to revive extinct species


In addition to bringing back the woolly mammothgenetic engineering company Colossal is also looking to resurrect another extinct species: the Tasmanian tiger.

Teaming up with Colossal Laboratories and Biosciences to bring back the Australian thylacine (Tasmanian tiger), a predator exterminated in the early 20th century, is the University of Melbourne’s Thylacine Integrated Genetic Restoration Research (TIGRR) Lab.

Scientists will use CRISPR gene editing technology and the TIGRR Lab’s complete Tasmanian tiger genome from a preserved specimen to eventually create an embryo. The lab has also identified other surviving mammals with similar DNA to provide needed cells for the process.

“With this partnership, I now believe that in ten years’ time we could have our first living baby thylacine since they were hunted to extinction close to a century ago,” said Prof. Andrew Pask, who oversees the TIGRR Lab, in a description of the project on the university’s website.

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Colossal, which has offices in Boston, Dallas and Austin, Texas, got attention last year when it announced plans to bring back the woolly mammoth by using elephant DNA.

“Some people classify us as a mammoth company, but we’re really a de-extinction company, so our goal is to focus on bringing back species that can have a positive impact on various ecosystems, and the Tasmanian tiger is definitely one of those species,” Colossal CEO and co-founder Ben Lamm told the Austin American-Statesmanpart of the USA TODAY Network.

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