Cloning and Extinction

Illustration of Tasmanian tiger from Natural Geographic

New studies recently uncovered an intact genome of a recently declared extinct species of marsupial called the Tasmanian tigers, this discovery has led to new information related to natural extinction. The research, “Secrets from Beyond Extinction: The Tasmanian Tiger”, conducted in association with the University of Melbourne describes the university’s effort to reestablish a currently extinct species. After being hunted to near extinction, museums everywhere began searching for specimen to be put on display. Decades later with the advancement of genetic techniques and the development of cloning, Professor Andrew Pask put together a team of scientists to comb their records for intact, well preserved samples of the Tasmanian tiger. The article remarks on the successes of preserving and sequencing the genome of a sample of a Tasmanian tiger pup, which went extinct over a century ago. Acquiring an intact genome is the first step to bringing back any extinct animal, followed by finding a suitable species to try and host a developing embryo. The data shed light on the physical traits that the tigers possessed, such as colorage, striping, and skull shape with the research team noting their similarities to wolves, citing it as an exelent example of convergent evolution. However, genetic analysis of the tiger revealed that even without overhunting and human interference, the Tasmanian tiger would have likely died off on its own due to the limited genetic diversity within its population. This finding leads us to consider our role in determining whether a species goes extinct due to the laws of nature or due to our meddling, and whether it is our responsibility to then try and bring it back to existence.

Skilled artist's rendition of the
extinct Tasmanian tiger :(

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