BBC Focus - 04.2020_

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

LUIS

VILLAZON

Science/tech

writer

ALECMADDOCKS,VIAEMAIL

COULDWEBRINGBACKANEXTINCTSPECIES

USING DNA, JUR ASSIC PARK STYLE?

To‘de-extinct’ananimal,youneeda sourceof

theanimal’sDNA,whichprovidestheblueprint

formakingit.DNAis sometimespreservedin

fossils,andtheoldestDNAextractedtodate

comesfroma 700,000-year-oldhorsebone

foundin theCanadianpermafrost.However,

DNAbreaksdownovertime,andscientists

thinkthatit’sunlikelytobefoundin any

specimenolderthana millionyears.Dinosaurs

wentextinct 65 millionyearsago. No dinosaur

DNA,nodinosaurs.Sorry!

Someotherspecies,however,arefairgame.

In 2003,scientistsbrieflyde-extincteda type

ofgoat,calledthebucardo.DNA-ladencells,

takenfromthelastlivingfemalebeforeshe

died,wereusedtocreatea clone,andthe

resultingembryowastransplantedintothe

womb of a living domestic goat. The bucardo

wasdeliveredbyCaesareansection,butdied

shortlyafterbirthduetolungdefects.The

bucardowasthereforethefirstanimaltobe

de-extincted,but also the first animal to go

extincttwice!

Otherde-extinctionprojectsinclude

attemptstoreviveanAustralianamphibian

calledthegastric-broodingfrog,a North

Americanbirdcalledthepassengerpigeonand

theoneandonlywoollymammoth.Theseuse

a combinationofcloning,gene-editingand

stemcellmethods,butdon’tholdyourbreath

waitingforthepitter-patteroftinyfeet.

De-extinctionis stillverymuchin itsinfancy,

sofornow,takesolacein thefactthat

dinosaursneverreallyleftus.Birdsaretheir

directdescendants, and they’re everywhere.

HP

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