Researchers are trying to revive the Tasmanian tiger, which went extinct in the 1930s
2022-08-17 14:45:32
TiranaPost
Researchers in Australia and the US are starting a multi-million dollar project to revive the Tasmanian tiger.
The last one died in the 1930s.
The team behind the project say the species can be recreated using stem cells and gene editing technology, and the first thylacine could be reintroduced into the wild in 10 years.
Other experts are skeptical and suggest the extinction is just science fiction.
The group of Australian and American scientists plans to take stem cells from a living species with similar DNA, and then use gene-editing technology to bring back the extinct species - or an approximation of it.
The population of Tasmanian tigers was reduced when people arrived in Australia tens of thousands of years ago, and again when dingoes - a type of wild dog - appeared.
The idea of reintroducing the Tasmanian tiger has been around for more than 20 years. In 1999, the Australian Museum began pursuing a project to clone the animal, and since then various attempts have been made to extract or reconstruct DNA from the samples.
This latest project is a partnership between scientists at the University of Melbourne and Texas-based company Colossal.
The US firm made headlines last year with its plans to use similar gene-editing technology to bring the mammoth back to life - a technological feat yet to be realised.
Tiranapost.al
