Extinct animal's DNA reactivated
Pastor Dale Morgan
Extinct animal's DNA reactivated*
* Ian Sample, science correspondent
* The Guardian,
* Tuesday May 20 2008
In a breakthrough Jurassic Park-like experiment, scientists have
resurrected genes from the Tasmanian tiger - a meat-eating marsupial
that became extinct more than 70 years ago - by injecting them into
mouse embryos.
The Tasmanian tiger, the largest of the carnivorous marsupials, was
wiped out in the wild by intensive hunting in the early 1900s. The
stripy, wolf-like creatures grew up to six feet in length and had long,
stiff tails and bulky heads.
Researchers at the University of Melbourne and Texas University in
Houston extracted DNA from four 100-year-old museum specimens, including
three preserved in alcohol, the journal PLoS One reported. They isolated
a string of genes from each and injected it into early-stage mouse
embryos. Tests on the growing mice revealed that a gene from the
Tasmanian tiger called Col2a1 had switched on and was driving the growth
of bone and cartilage in the young animals.
"This is the first time DNA from an extinct species has been used to
induce a functional response in another living organism," said Andrew
Pask, who led the study. Scientists now hope to use the technique to
understand the role of other genes found in extinct animals.