Scientists want to revive the Tasmanian tiger with its DNA – rts.ch
American and Australian researchers want to revive the Tasmanian tiger, a species that became extinct 85 years ago. A marsupial could become the first animal reconstructed by science thanks to its DNA.
The Tasmanian tiger, or the Tasmanian tiger, had a wolf’s head and a fluffy coat. This species was exterminated by farmers at the beginning of the twentieth century: they accused the beast of killing their sheep.
All that remains of the Tasmanian tiger today are videos filmed at a zoo in 1933. The Australian National Archives recently colorized these rare images.
Nearly 90 years later, a multi-million dollar project aims to bring it back to life. It is led by the US company Colossal Biosciences, in partnership with the University of Melbourne.
saved sample
Despite the extinction of the marsupial, the Victoria Museum in Melbourne has preserved a specimen. This sample made it possible to sequence the genome to reconstruct cells.
In ten years, we may be able to see the Tasmanian tiger in its natural habitat. It is anyway a Colossal Biosciences dream. The biotech group is not on its first attempt: an attempt to revive the woolly mammoth is already underway and has not yielded any results so far.
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