Scientists hope to revive the extinct Tasmanian tiger

Australian scientists want to use advanced genetic engineering to create an artificial living cell of the Tasmanian tiger and then reproduce in vitro to produce new members of the extinct species.

Drawing of the Tasmanian tiger.

According to RT television, the project is being carried out by a laboratory at the University of Melbourne in partnership with Dallas-based genetics company Colossal Biosciences. The lab, known as TIGRR, wanted to create a genome of the Tasmanian tiger based on genetic sequences decoded years ago.

Professor Andrew Pask, head of the TIGRR, said: 'Our efforts are facing many challenges, but we hope we can overcome them with a team of scientists working together to tackle them. problem'.

Pask and his colleagues will use the genome of the fat-tailed dunnart rat closely related to the Tasmanian tiger as the basis for the reconstructed genome. Gene sections from other species will be inserted to create an approximate DNA fragment of the Tasmanian tiger.

This animal is called a tiger because of the stripes on its spine, but its appearance is the result of evolution, making it the only known marsupial carnivore. This animal was wiped out from Tasmania in the first half of the 20th century due to hunting and other competing animals in the wild such as the dingo.

The TIGRR laboratory will focus on developing techniques for in vitro marsupial pregnancy. In mammals, the young spend weeks or months nursing and growing in the mother's womb before developing independence. Scientists hope with this property, their pregnancy process is relatively simple and can be artificially recreated.