Potential Return Of Tasmanian Tiger

[FayetheADHDsquirrel]

Tasmanian tiger moves closer to de-extinction as scientists assemble near-complete genome

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

That’s excellent news!

 

[Outdated]

I've been watching this fairly closely for the last few years. It will be interesting to see just how close to the original their creation will be. When most of you look at pictures of them one of the first impressions you get is that of a "stripy wolf" but thylacines aren't canines, they're marsupials more closely related to possums and quolls.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

Me too. I’ve been reading about the thylacines for a couple of years now, maybe longer. I don’t know why, but I have felt a kinship with them in some vague sense. Not biologically, obviously.

 

[Hypnalis]

Interesting, but it raises some questions.

Making one animal look like another (like the Elephants -> Mammoths example) doesn't re-create the original animal. It makes a version of the modern animal that looks different.

And RNA isn't DNA. Only (some) viruses use RNA to encode their genes.

It would be nice if there was enough information available in their "raw data" re-create Thylacine DNA, but if they were sure of that, or were close, they'd probably have said so.

 

[Outdated]

Making one animal look like another (like the Elephants -> Mammoths example) doesn't re-create the original animal. It makes a version of the modern animal that looks different.

The original would have been quite a thing to see back when there were lots of them, they must have been incredibly successful predators and that's probably why early settlers were so terrified of them that they hunted them all out.

(that's the history of all humanity. If something scares us we kill it. If it truly terrifies us we wipe out the entire species.)

Far from being Australia's first or last extinctions though, and that started well before Europeans got here. There were quite a few megamarsupials here as recent as 10000 years ago. My ancestors ate them all. That's a bit of an exaggeration, climate change had a lot to do with their extinction too, but there are cave paintings of them and partly cooked and eaten remains have been excavated in archeological digs.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

From what I understand, which is rather limited, if researchers have viable DNA, even partial strands, they can use CRISPR methods to "fill in" missing parts and make complete strands. I have a lot of questions about that, but again, it's not my area of expertise. Maybe they can if they have enough DNA samples to "snip" and "cut" and insert enough pieces and parts to create a single, complete DNA strand.

There is something called "The Woolly Mammoth Project". They are working on not only the Woolly Mammoth, but other recently extinct animals, such as the Thylacine, Passenger Pigeon, etc., as well as preserving the DNA and reproducing the current lot of nearly extinct creatures.

We Could Resurrect the Woolly Mammoth. Here's How.

The Woolly Mammoth Revival

 

[Shamar]

Tasmanian tiger moves closer to de-extinction as scientists assemble near-complete genome

I Am Not An Expert, but I know there was a thylacine kept in the Hobart zoo for some years until it died. Most of it was preserved for study, and I would think that plenty of DNA would be available for cloning or to confirm the complete genome. The fact that there are pieces of a recently living example is likely the reason it has so much focus. There MAY still be living examples. People in Tasmania still report occasional sightings. And from my having spent time traipsing around in the wilds there, I am not surprised that some could still remain hidden. The areas I worked in are pretty much the definition Forest Primeval. Dense, wild, impenetrable, almost claustrophobic. Loved it.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

I Am Not An Expert, but I know there was a thylacine kept in the Hobart zoo for some years until it died. Most of it was preserved for study, and I would think that plenty of DNA would be available for cloning or to confirm the complete genome. The fact that there are pieces of a recently living example is likely the reason it has so much focus. There MAY still be living examples. People in Tasmania still report occasional sightings. And from my having spent time traipsing around in the wilds there, I am not surprised that some could still remain hidden. The areas I worked in are pretty much the definition Forest Primeval. Dense, wild, impenetrable, almost claustrophobic. Loved it.

Yes. I agree, based on what I have read. I am also jealous that you’ve been there. I would have loved to go.