The North American biotechnology company Colossal, in partnership with the University of Melbourne, intends to restore the genetic code of the animal, which lived on the island of Tasmania, in Australia.
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Professor Andrew Pask, leader of the team of scientists, said that the partnership between the university and the company is the biggest attempt to restore marsupials – animals that have a skin pouch where the young complete their development – in Australia, as reported O newspaper The Independent (🇬🇧).
What did the Tasmanian tiger look like?
With a canine appearance and stripes on its back, the Tasmanian Tiger, also known as the Tasmanian wolf, was considered extinct from the wild in the 18th century during European colonization. However, the last survivor of the species died in 1936, in a zoo.
Restore balance
The company's researchers say that the idea of “resurrecting” the Tasmanian tiger is to increase the biodiversity of animals found in Oceania.
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When Tasmanian tigers became extinct, there was an invasion of unwanted species that caused biological imbalance in the region.
In the announcement, the company did not give many details about how it will resurrect the species, but said that the team already has more than 30 scientists specialized in gene editing. Now, the only way to wait is for scenes from the next chapters.
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