If you haven't heard of the tiger, it's because it's not a cat, but a dog that humans hunted to extinction. In 1936, the last specimen was found.
Colossal Biosciences wants to bring back the Tasmanian tiger, also known as theThylacine or the Tasmanian wolf.
The company said that the project was a masterpiece of biological advancement. The story of it's extinction is a tragedy.
The abdominal pouch in both females and males is rare in the animal world. It's called a dingo with a pouch or a dog with a pouch, but it has a lot in common with an animal.
Colossal wants to give the thylacine a second chance at life.
The project raises a number of big questions.
The extinction of the animal was blamed on humans after a bounty program was instituted to protect sheep and other animals. A lack of genetic diversity was found to be a factor in the decline of the thylacine.
If the population still existed, it would not be very healthy and it would be susceptible to diseases.
Colossal is trying to bring the thylacine back. He said in an email that the plan will include diverse DNA sources.
We hope to continue doing this in the new partnership with Colossal, as we have now sequenced many of the thylacines, according to the email. If the species is managed correctly, it can be brought back to a healthy population.
He wants to bring back a good number of animals to ensure healthy diversity in the new population. He noted that any new population would be closely monitored.
It is not a clone.
The process of cloning is very specific. When talk of resurrecting the mammoth gained new currency in 2015, evolutionary biologists told NPR that the process requires a living cell.
Colossal wants to create a hybrid animal with the characteristics of a tiger. The scientists will use the technology to modify the genome of the extinct animal's closest relative, the numbat.
When the embryo develops into an embryo, it would be implanted into a surrogate.
The thylacine was the only predator in the state that other animals could not replace. The Tasmanian devil population was almost wiped out by a facial tumors disease.
The return of an apex predator would remove the sick and weak animals from the population and improve the genetic health of all the populations it impacts.
The return of the thylacine could help restore balance to the entire system in the state.
It could arrive soon. Colossal hopes to have its first woolly mammoth calves in the world within the next five or six years.
There isn't a time table for the thylacine. Ben Lamm, Colossal's founder and CEO, noted in an email that the tiger's expected lifespan would be shorter than that of an elephant-mammoth hybrid.
The nearly two-year gestation of the calves is a large part of the mammoth timelines. One of the first animals to be brought back could be theThylacine proxy.
The thylacine is thought to have been found in Australia up to 3000 years ago, and that's an interesting question.
The introduction of the thylacine to the mainland could have a major impact on the ecology of the area.
He said that it would have to be studied in captive areas before any broader release could be considered.
Beth has said that boosting genetic diversity and helping the environment are the same reasons she uses genetic editing. The black-footed ferret, which was thought to be extinct, is one of the wildlife we currently have that is struggling.
She told NPR in 2017: "Maybe we could use this technology to give those populations a genetic booster shot and maybe fighting a chance against the diseases that are killing them." We're facing a problem. This technology could be a very powerful weapon against what's happening right now. We should not dismiss it out of fear.
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