A 'de-extinction' company wants to genetically resurrect the Tasmanian tiger, a dog-like marsupial that went extinct in 1936. Should they?
Here's a rundown of some of the big questions the project raises:Humans have been blamed for the animal's extinction, especially after a bounty program was instituted in Tasmania to protect sheep and other animals. But in 2017, Andrew Pask, a biosciences professor, led research that found the thylacine also suffered from a lack of genetic diversity.
The goal, he said, is to bring back"a good number" of animals to help ensure healthy diversity in the new population. And while the thylacine was seen as struggling in the wild, any new population would be closely monitored, he noted."Cloning is a very specific scientific process.
The thylacine played that role for thousands of years, Pask said, and its return now could restore balance to the entire ecosystem in Tasmania.It could arrive as early as the next few years. By comparison, Colossal hopes to bring its first woolly mammoth calves into the world within the next five or six years, usingA timeline for the thylacine hasn't been revealed.
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A plan to bring the Tasmanian tiger back from extinction raises questionsThe 'de-extinction' company Colossal Biosciences wants to genetically resurrect the Tasmanian tiger, also known as the thylacine. The last known specimen died in a zoo in 1936.
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