Is it Possible to Revive an Extinct Spices? These Scientists Think They Can
Scientists in Australia and the United States are starting a multi-million dollar project to bring the Tasmanian tiger back from extinction.
The last known Tasmanian Tiger, technically named Thylacine, passed away in the 1930s.
The group behind the effort claims it can accomplish this using stem cells and gene-editing technology. The first Thylacine may be reintroduced into the wild in ten years’ time.
Other specialists are skeptical and suggest that de-extinction is simply science fiction.
The Thylacine gained its nickname of Tasmanian tiger for the stripes throughout its back – yet it was, in fact, a marsupial, the kind of Australian mammal that raises its young in a pouch.
The Australian and the United States researchers intend to extract stem cells from a living marsupial species with comparable DNA and afterward utilize gene-editing technology to “bring back” the extinct species – or at least a very close approximation of it.
If successful, it would represent an extraordinary accomplishment for the scientists attempting it and demand a number of scientific advancements.
Professor Andrew Pask, leading the program from the University of Melbourne, stated: “I now believe that in 10 years’ time, we could have our first living baby thylacine since they were hunted to extinction close to a century ago.”
The population of Tasmanian tigers dropped when humans appeared in Australia tens of thousands of years earlier and again when dingoes (types of wild dogs) appeared.
Ultimately, the marsupial only wandered free on the island of Tasmania and was eventually pursued to extinction.
The last captive Tasmanian tiger passed away at Hobart Zoo in 1936.
Making history ?
If researchers were to bringing back a Tasmanian Tiger, it would mark the first “de-extinction” event on record; however, several outside specialists are skeptical of the science behind it.
Associate Professor Jeremy Austin from the Australian Center for Ancient DNA told the Sydney Morning Herald: “De-extinction is a fairytale science”. He also added that the project is “more about media attention for the scientists and less about doing serious science.”
The concept of reviving the Tasmanian Tiger has been around for more than two decades. In 1999, the Australian Museum took on a project to clone the animal. Ever since, numerous attempts have been made to extract or reconstruct viable DNA from samples.
This latest attempt is a collaboration between researchers at the University of Melbourne and Texas-based firm Colossal.
The United States company made headlines in 2021 with its plans to use similar genetic editing technology to bring the woolly mammoth back to life – a technological accomplishment yet to be achieved.
Originally published by: BBC
