Extinct Tasmanian Tiger DNA ‘resurrected’

 (Tasmanian Tiger – photo credit www.bbc.co.uk/news)

Using transgenic mice, Australian and American researchers have shown that they can “resurrect” a snippet of DNA from the genome of an extinct animal — the Tasmanian tiger — and test its biological function in a living animal.   The last Tasmanian Tiger died in an Australian zoo in 1936 having been hunted to extinction.

Dr Andrew Pask, of the Department of Zoology at Melbourne University, who led the research, said it was the first time that DNA from an extinct species had been used to carry out a function in a living organism.

“As more and more species of animals become extinct, we are continuing to lose critical knowledge of gene function and its potential,” he said.  “Up until now we have only been able to examine gene sequences from extinct animals. This research was developed to go one step further to examine extinct gene function in a whole organism.”

The team extracted DNA from some of these specimens, and injected a gene involved in cartilage formation into developing mouse embryos.  The DNA functioned in a similar way to the equivalent gene in mice, giving information about the genetic make-up of the extinct marsupial.

“At a time when extinction rates are increasing at an alarming rate, especially of mammals, this research discovery is critical,”said Professor Marilyn Renfree, also of the University of Melbourne’s Department of Zoology.

“For those species that have already become extinct, our method shows that access to their genetic biodiversity may not be completely lost.”

Elaine Warburton  www.geneticsandhealth.com