Norwegian scientists have succeeded for the first time in obtaining ribonucleic acid (RNA) from an extinct species, the Tasmanian tiger.
Never before has RNA from an extinct species been extracted and sequenced, Love Dalén, professor of evolutionary genetics at Stockholm University and co-leader of the project, told AFP.
The ability to recover RNA from extinct species is a first step toward the eventual revival of extinct species.
Professor Dalén and his team have successfully sequenced the RNA of a 130-year-old Tasmanian tiger specimen located at the Swedish Natural History Museum.
In this way, they managed to restore the RNA of the animal’s muscles and skin.
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The Tasmanian tiger specimen used in the study. It is stored at room temperature in the Swedish Museum of Natural History.
Photo: Stockholm University/Emilio Mármol Sánchez/Panagiotis Kalogeropoulos
RNA is a molecule that enables the expression of the genetic code in each cell, giving it instructions for action.
The sequences obtained were of such quality that it was possible to identify RNAs that code for muscle and skin proteins, the researchers state in a press release.
If we want to revive an extinct animal, we need to know where the genes are, what they do, and in which tissues they are regulated.
The last Tasmanian tiger, a carnivorous marsupial, died in captivity in Tasmania (South Australia) in 1936.
After the European colonization of Australia, the animal was declared a pest and a reward was offered for each animal killed.
Study of RNA viruses
The researchers’ findings will have implications for the study of RNA viruses. Many pandemics have been caused by RNA viruses, such as the recent coronavirus or previously the Spanish flu, said Love Dalén.
We could look for these viruses in the remains of wild animals preserved in the museum’s dried specimens. This could help understand the nature and origins of pandemics.
For Daniela Kalthoff, head of the Natural History Museum’s mammal collection, this opens the way for further research into the exciting idea of a resurrection of the Tasmanian tiger.
The researchers are also considering the possibility of expanding RNA recovery to collections in other museums around the world.
There are millions upon millions of dried skins and tissues of insects, mammals and birds in museum collections around the world, and we could get RNA from all of these samples, says Professor Dalén.
Details of this work are published in the journal Genome Research (New Window).