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The thylacine, often called the Tasmanian tiger, was a 6‑foot‑long carnivorous marsupial that roamed mainland Australia until the early 20th century and survived only on Tasmania. Its striking dark stripes earned it the tiger nickname, yet its overall form resembled a wolf more closely, earning it the moniker Tasmanian wolf.
Human activity—particularly bounties paid by the Tasmanian government to trappers and hunters—driven the species to extinction. The final confirmed thylacine died in 1936 at a Hobart zoo, and despite occasional sighting reports, the animal remains officially extinct. Yet scientific efforts to resurrect it have intensified in recent decades.
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In 2000, palaeontologist Mike Archer, then director of the Australian Museum, announced a bold plan to clone the thylacine from preserved DNA. While the project stalled due to funding and contamination issues, Archer’s team succeeded in extracting key genes, laying a foundation for future de‑extinction work.
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Colossal Biosciences, a company focused on reversing extinction, launched a thylacine de‑extinction project in 2022. The goal is to reconstruct a complete genome from well‑preserved samples and use it to restore the species to Tasmania, thereby helping to mend disrupted ecosystems.
In October 2024, Colossal announced a breakthrough: a thylacine genome reconstructed with over 99.9% accuracy, matching the chromosomal level of living species. The remaining 45 genomic fragments are expected to be filled in with additional sequencing.
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The team leveraged unusually intact DNA from a 110‑year‑old thylacine head preserved in ethanol, enabling extraction of long RNA molecules from tissues such as tongue, nasal cavity, brain, and eye. This provided unprecedented insight into the animal’s sensory biology and helped refine the genome assembly.
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Comparing the thylacine genome with those of wolves and dogs, researchers identified “Thylacine Wolf Accelerated Regions” (TWAR) that influence jaw and skull morphology. CRISPR editing of these regions into fat‑tailed dunnart cells—closest living relatives—creates embryos that carry thylacine‑specific traits.
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Using dunnarts as surrogate hosts, scientists induce ovulation, harvest eggs, and implant edited embryos. They maintain these embryos in an artificial uterus for up to half the gestation period, surpassing previous attempts with marsupial embryos. As techniques mature, the prospect of reintroducing the Tasmanian tiger becomes increasingly realistic.
