Scientists who are trying to re-create the extinct thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, have gained much ground with a long-lost specimen discovered in a Melbourne museum.
A preserved thylacine head stored in a bucket contained material that scientists had thought was impossible to find -- the long RNA molecules that would be needed to re-create the genome of the animal.
As The Guardian uncovered, this was the miracle that happened with this specimen, according to lead researcher Andrew Pask. The discovery has accelerated efforts to resurrect the species, surpassing early expectations.
The project wouldn't be possible without Colossal, a Texas-based biotechnology company, which is now moving towards its goal of reviving thylacine using advanced genetic engineering techniques.
Colossal, a company interested in "de-extinction," plans to bring back the thylacine apart from reviving the woolly mammoth and the dodo. Funded with $235 million, the firm operates in 13 global labs, and new breakthroughs in thylacine research have been made.
Among these was the production of the highest quality ancient genome ever created up to date with only 45 gaps in a genetic blueprint containing 3 billion data points.
According to Ben Lamm, co-founder of Colossal, it marks a "great scientific leap forward" and brings the program closer to reviving the thylacine and providing critical tools for species conservation.
The thylacine head, known as the "head in a bucket," contained not only DNA but also long RNA molecules, which are essential for defining the features and behavior of the animal.
This progress reveals more about the sensory functions of the extinct creature, including taste and smell, and thus was able to provide researchers with an even closer view of the thylacine's biology.
The result is the world's first annotated extinct animal genome, says Pask, who adds that this is what guarantees for them what they produce will be the real thylacine-not a hybrid.
Pask believes that with the stem cells taken from the fat-tailed dunnart, a tiny marsupial having nearly the same DNA, and gene-edited techniques used to alter his cells, he would be ready to portray thylacine in the near future.
He does confess, however that producing a "thylacine-like" animal within three to five years is feasible but cautions that it certainly won't be a real thylacine. The researchers said that the appearance and even skull or stripes of that animal could be replicated easily but still had difficulty replicating all the characteristics that differentiated the animal.
There's optimism, of course. Others still are unconvinced. Critics ask why so much money and effort is put into the job of reviving the dead when thousands of species of living animals face extinction. Others, including Professor Euan Ritchie, are concerned that such a thing might have ecological implications.
"What's next?" Ritchie asks. The problem in the minds of everyone involved with the new animals is that killing it has learned to do will not come from any living thylacine to learn from.
According to news.com.au, the last sighting of thylacine was in Hobart zoo in 1936.
As the scientific world is closely observing the steps being made, the ethical implications and consequences of "de-extinction" are yet to be solved. And with the prospects of the return of the thylacine species appearing on the horizon, the future of species resurrection may not be far behind.