Extinct Tasmanian tiger 'resurrected'
Tuesday, 20 May 2008 11:35
The last thlyacine died in captivity in the 1930s
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DNA from the extinct Tasmanian tiger has been 'resurrected' after being successfully inserted into a mouse embryo.
Scientists from Australia and the US believe the breakthrough could lead to other extinct species being brought back to life.
Writing in the science journal PLoS ONE the researchers hailed the world's first-ever instance of DNA from an extinct species inducing a functional response in another living organism.
The advance has echoes of Michael Crichton's novel Jurassic Park and the Hollywood film of the same name, where dinosaurs were resurrected by combining fossilised DNA with DNA taken from frogs.
The Tasmanian tiger, otherwise known as thylacine, was hunted to extinction at the turn of the last century.
The last thlyacine died in captivity in the 1930s, but pouch young and adult tissues were preserved in alcohol in several museums, allowing scientists to isolate DNA from the 100-year-old ethanol-fixed specimens.
After being extracted the DNA was then inserted into mouse embryos, later showing function in developing cartilage that forms bones.
Professor Martin Renfree, senior author of the research, commented: "At a time when extinction rates are increasing at an alarming rate, especially of mammals, this research discovery is critical.
"For those species that have already become extinct, our method shows that access to their genetic biodiversity may not be completely lost."