RNA for the first time recovered from an extinct species A new study shows the isolation and sequencing of more than a century-old RNA molecules from a Tasmanian tiger specimen preserved at room temperature in a museum collection. This resulted in the reconstruction of skin and skeletal muscle transcriptomes from an extinct species for the first time. The researchers note that their findings have relevant implications for international efforts to resurrect extinct species, including both the Tasmanian tiger and the woolly mammoth, as well as for studying pandemic RNA viruses.
I don’t like that “resurrect extinct species” thing though. Even after reading about what could be its advantages, I don’t see how great it could be for us. If that goal could be removed when making such studies, it would be fine imo.
I see it as a great goal because you could possibly “ressurect” extinct animals that died due to us.
For references in regards to naturally extinct animals see Jurassic Park.
It only bothers me the idea of not well thought reintroduction into places that could have adapted to the new life without the extinct species.
Oh great. Jurassic Park, here we go.
I don’t think there’s a lot of value to having the muscle transcriptome of an extinct species, since it’s probably similar enough to extant marsupial or even eutherian muscle transcriptomes. And we’re not going to be building adult thylacines from scratch using this information.
Very surprising RNA could survive this long, though.
