The plan to revive the Tasmanian tiger reaches new progress

Biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences reached a major milestone in its mission to revive extinct animals when it received an additional capital of 200 million USD from TWG Global, bringing its total capital to 435 million USD. They are using this money to pioneer the development of tools to reverse extinction, contributing to achievements in animal conservation and human health care, according to IFL Science.

According to Colossal co-founder, professor George Church of Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the company aims for ambitious goals such as reviving mammoths, dodo birds, and Tasmanian tigers through technology. revolutionary. A key project for the company revolves around the Tasmanian tiger, also known as the thylacine, an extinct mammal from Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea. The last Tasmanian tiger died in 1936.

Creating an ectopic Tasmanian tiger is the preferred option because it does not require a surrogate, but simulating the uterine environment is not an easy task. Colossal announced that they have not only created an artificial uterus prototype, but also used it to nourish fertilized single-cell mammalian embryos halfway through pregnancy.

According to Colossal’s other co-founder, Ben Lamm, their system is much more sophisticated than any existing device, with the ability to precisely adjust the microfluidic and gas channels allowing control embryonic developing environment. The system also allows imaging of the embryo, ensuring developmental milestones are on schedule. This device is vital for studying embryonic development, ensuring DNA editing promotes appropriate changes. Through artificial wombs, Colossal can create Tasmanian tigers at a scale that would allow them to be returned to the wild without the need for a surrogate. In addition, artificial wombs also help create living animals from endangered species cells stored in biobanks.

Mammals are well suited to testing this technology due to their very short gestation periods (less than two weeks) with very short placentas during pregnancy. There are a number of hurdles to overcome in order to meet the changing nutritional needs of the embryo at each stage of development, but if successful, researchers can adapt the system to different groups of animals.

Colossal announced a number of new achievements including the creation of reference genomes for African elephants, Asian elephants and mammoths, as well as collecting the ancient genome of woolly mammoths. A key part of the company’s goal is to introduce the cold-hardy phenotype of mammoths into similar species today. They successfully edited more than 20 important genes related to key traits that help this species thrive in cold environments.

In the dodo bird, Colossal gathered the chromosomes of the Nicobar pigeon, the dodo’s closest relative, and created a flock that would serve as the original germ cell donor for the dodo’s future individuals. Colossal. The company built a machine learning method to identify genes associated with craniofacial shape that they could use to create the dodo bird’s characteristic beak shape.