Cloning the Extinct Tasmanian Tiger
Geneticists have cloned sheep, horses, cats and dogs. The next step it seems is to bring back the dead. Scientists are currently working on resurrecting through cloning an animal extinct since 1936. The Australian Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, was hunted to extinction 73 years ago, but now geneticists think they can bring back the fierce predator using DNA from stuffed museum specimens.
"Bringing back an extinct creature would unlock the door to progress.
Who knows what other 'impossible' things may be on the other side?"
~Michael Archer
Cloning Project Background
The project is headed by evolutionary biologist Michael Archer, dean of science at the University of New South Wales in Australia. In collaboration with colleagues at Australian universities and U.S. genetics labs, Archer hoped to bring this carnivourous marsupial back from extinction using DNA from an infant female preserved in alcohol since 1866.Part of the difficulty lies in restoring the degraded DNA, in fact Archer's first team failed to extract quality DNA from the infant female and the project was scrapped in February 2005. But with a new team, new technology and a new strategy to recover genes from the bones and teeth of thylacines in museum specimens the project was revived again in October 2005.
If Archer's new team can figure out how to restore degraded DNA there is a chance the Tasmanian tiger could live again. What's next...the Woolly Mammoth? Actually that's not so far fetched...in fact there are projects underway to clone the mammoth as well as the Spanish bucardo goat.
How to Clone an Extinct Animal
- Obtain Sample DNA:
Find cells from the animal's tissue, bones, teeth, hair, etc.. Then extract the DNA from the cell's nucleus. - Rebuild Genome:
Reassemble the DNA of the extinct animal using the genome of a related living animal as a guide. In the tiger's case that is the Tasmanian devil. - Swap DNA:
Remove the ovarian eggs of the related animal and replace their nuclei with the restored genetic material from the extinct animal. - Zap the Eggs:
Fuse the nuclei with the eggs and trigger cell devision by shocking them with electric current or treating them with chemicals. - Implant the Embryos:
When the embyos have grown to 200 cells in size transfer them into the womb of the related animal for gestation. - Delivery:
The surrogate mother gives birth. The extinct species is reborn once again. It is scientists hope that the necessary survival skills will be coded into its genes.
Further Reading About the Tasmanian Tiger
The Last Tasmanian Tiger: The History and Extinction of the Thylacine
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Amazon Price: $24.29 (as of 11/27/2009) 
Carnivorous Nights: On the Trail of the Tasmanian Tiger
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Amazon Price: $10.17 (as of 11/27/2009)
Woolly Mammoth: Back Again?
Jarkov mammoth may be the key
In 1999, French polar explorer Bernard Buigues and mammoth experts Dick Mol and Larry Agenbroad unearthed a 23,000 pound block of permafrost containing the remains of a woolly mammoth near the Bolchaya Balakhnya River in Siberia.Scientists were hopeful that the block of frozen earth would yield an intact mammoth carcass. The possibility led a number of genetic research facilities around the world to propose extracting DNA from the soft tissues of the extinct creature with the goal of cloning it back to life.
Unfortunately for those scientists interested in cloning the mammoth there was very little soft tissue and bone remaining. As in the case of the Tasmanian tiger there was just too little quality DNA to give cloning much of a chance.
But if scientists can discover a technique to restore degraded DNA the first major hurdle in cloning the mammoth will be overcome. That would just leave several other unknown factors including the gestation period of the mammoth. Will it match that of the Asian elephant, the mammoth's closest living relative? Not to mention there is a bit of a size difference between the woolly mammoth and the Asian elephant; what kind of problems will this cause for the surrogate mother?
All in all the odds are currently stacked against a successful clone, but with the ever expanding developments in genetics some day in the next 20-30 years there might just be woolly mammoth rides at your local zoo.
Woolly Mammoth Fact and Fiction
More info on the woolly mammoth for your reading pleasure
What should we do about cloning?
With each breakthrough in cloning research comes increased controversy. Should we be messing with nature? On one hand there may be a great number of discoveries that lead to better health or the preservation of endangered species, on the other hand there is a great moral dilemma involved when anyone mentions human cloning.
Join the Cloning Debate
Let the battle begin!
Since I've created this little page on cloning extinct animals I've had some comments from several people voicing their opinion on the merits or morals of cloning. And the above poll results show that not everyone is very keen on the idea of cloning especially when it involves human cloning.
So let's start a little debate so all voices can be heard. Is cloning the future and will it lead to many improvements in life? Or, is cloning something better left alone, something that may lead to the end of humans on earth?
How do you feel about cloning?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byCloning is the future deal with it!
science_fiction_novels_cyberpunk says:
I can understand cloning extinct animals as well living species for research reasons. Instead I can't see any sound need in cloning human beings, but only dangers and problems; future laws will account for this. I imagine that all this will be valid at least in the near future, till when human ethics will not change ...
Posted November 03, 2009
Blalcldjdjfb says:
We shouldn't clone ourselves ret#^!s we sould be cloning ectinct animals.
Posted October 16, 2009
Peter Baumwolleschwanz says:
With the great leaps and bounds made throughout all fields in recent history and those that i hope will continue far into our uncertain future, it would be a sad thing to not take advantage of the knowledge gained through our myriad mistakes and on occasion make an effort to perhaps correct some of them.
Posted September 24, 2009
mon says:
i say clone animals which are easy to kill or it may happen we be no longer the top of the food chain
Posted August 07, 2009
sah says:
not everyone is christian and believes in god.
so you can't tell everyone out there that it is religiously wrong.
so technically religion is not a sound argument against cloning - it isnt universal
science, however, you cant argue with
Posted August 06, 2009
Cloning is an unnatural abomination!
Sam says:
"What you call discovery, I call the rape of the natural world."
Dr. Malcolm, Jurassic Park
Posted September 19, 2009
TheMedievalNun says:
As for cloning humans: if you are so genetically inferior that you can't reproduce naturally, why on earth would you want to clone yourself? So your child can also be genetically inferior and unable to reproduce? Natural selection weeds out genetically inferior people and keeps our species viable. If everyone goes to cloning themselves instead of having babies the old-fashioned way, then we will never evolve; we'll be stuck being the same genetically inferior people our forebearers were. One day we might even go extinct because we will not be able to adapt to whatever nature throws at us. Cloning exists in nature as asexual reproduction, but most species reproduce sexually. That's because nature knows that, in most cases, that's the best way for a species to survive. If we got better through cloning, we'd already be making babies that way.
Posted September 09, 2009
TheMedievalNun says:
Woolly mammoths require arctic tundra to support them. Where on earth would we put a woolly mammoth today? It went extinct because its habitat changed and it didn't; we might can clone the mammoth, but we sure can't clone a glacier ice shelf stretching across Russia for it to live next to. Things go extinct because they're inferior to some other species in a given environment. You may clone them, but they will never be capable of supporting themselves without constant human intervention because they are too inferior to survive. Worse, they may interbreed with cousin animals and weaken them until both go extinct. Wild turkeys are interbreeding with domestic turkeys (which are so weak they require constant human attention to survive) and the hybrids are too stupid to survive in the wild; wild turkeys are being weakened by a weak cousin and there is worry that they may go extinct. Wouldn't we hate it if the same thing happened between the woolly mammoths and Asian elephants?
Posted September 09, 2009
disagree says:
since these animals have extinct, why clone them?
if the clone animals weren't meant to be the way how it shoud be, all of us will be threathen.
think twice !
Posted August 21, 2009
disagree says:
since these animals have extinct, why clone them?
if the clone animals wasn't meant to be the way it should be, we all will be threathen.
think twice
Posted August 21, 2009
More Info on Woolly Mammoth and Thylacine Cloning
Tasmanian Tigers and Woolly Mammoths galore!
- Tasmanian Tiger Cloning Breakthrough
- An article from the Australian Museum Online written in 2002 about Micheal Archer's Tasmanian Tiger cloning project.
- Tasmanian Tiger Sightings
- Just like stories of the Loch Ness monster or Big Foot, the thought to be extinct Tasmanian tiger enjoys similar notoriety in Australia. Here are several articles of Tasmanian tiger sightings, as well as more articles on the cloning efforts.
- A Natural History of the Tasmanian Tiger
- The online Thylacine Museum, an educational guide to the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger. Tons of information covering virtually all aspects of the natural history of this unique Australian marsupial. A very comprehensive resource for those interested in the Tasmanian tiger.
- Will the Mammoth Walk Again?
- A Discovery Channel article about the discovery of the Jarkov mammoth and attempts to clone it.
- Mammoth Cloning
- An article stating some background on the woolly mammoth as well as the difficulties involved with cloning one.
Cloning Books and Resources
More information for your cloning research
Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Third Edition
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Amazon Price: $233.10 (as of 11/27/2009)
The Condensed Protocols from Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual
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Amazon Price: $89.10 (as of 11/27/2009)
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Cloning
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Amazon Price: (as of 11/27/2009)
New Scientific American
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What Bloggers are Saying About Cloning
more fuel for the cloning controversy
- Apex Book Company » HED: Human cloning? I'm down with that.
- I'm cool with human cloning because it (and more important, the ability to record and transfer human memories) represents the next great age of our species. I'm also accepting of human cloning because it's going to happen, regardless of ...
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A Lens of the Day Selection
9/28/06
A Thank you to the fine people of Squidoo for choosing this lens as Lens of the Day on September 28th 2006. And to the many readers who have graced this lens with their curiosity - may you all be cloned and visit again, and again. Reader Feedback
If you like this lens please don't forget to add this page to
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Reply
- admiralglass admiralglass Nov 26, 2009 @ 10:03 am
- Intresting lens. I wish they could bring back tasmanian tiger. I think they are so beautiful.
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Reply
- susannaduffy susannaduffy Apr 5, 2009 @ 7:31 pm
- I love this lens! I had to come back for another look
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Reply
- AlishaV AlishaV Jan 27, 2009 @ 5:32 pm
- Great lens! I've been interested in cloning ever since I realized that we are losing species of animals and plants every single day and without cloning, those wonderful species would be gone forever.
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Reply
- susannaduffy susannaduffy Dec 9, 2008 @ 6:46 am
- Excellent lens! Informative and thought provoking on a sensitive topic. Five high stars of course and linked as featured lens, as well as lensrolled, to my thylacine (tasmanian-tiger)
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Reply
- Pantherart Pantherart Nov 29, 2008 @ 12:29 am
- Great lens, but no on the cloning, 5 stars
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Artist, writer, and web developer who dabbles in the art of dabbling... in other words "I live in a van down by the river."
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