Hopes
Australian Lazarus Project provides stepping stone for other extinct species
such as the Tasmanian tiger
theguardian.com,
Australian Associated Press, Friday 22 November 2013
Southern gastric brooding frog Famous for giving birth through its mouth, the native gastric brooding frog has been extinct since 1983. Photograph: Auscape /UIG via Getty Images |
An
Australian science project to resurrect an extinct frog species has been named
one of the world's best inventions.
The Lazarus
Project centres on a genome technology developed by researchers from the
University of Newcastle. It was included in Time magazine's 25 Best Inventions
of the Year 2013 list because it has been successfully used to bring back to
life the gastric-brooding frog.
Famous for
giving birth through its mouth, the native frog has been extinct since 1983.
The researchers were able to collect DNA from frozen frog tissue stored in a
conventional freezer for 40 years. Using a process known as somatic cell
nuclear transplantation, they deactivated eggs from the distantly related
great-barred frog and swapped the nuclei with that of the gastric-brooding
frog.
While none
of the resulting embryos survived past a few days, genetic tests confirmed they
were full of the genetic material from the extinct species.
The project
is led by paleontologist Prof. Mike Archer, who worked in conjunction with
cloning specialists and frog expert Michael Mahony.
Mahoney
described the 'de-extinction' technology as an "insurance policy"
against extinction.
"We
need to have some process by which we can prevent extinction," he told ABC
Radio on Friday. It was not just about bringing species back from the dead, he
said, but making sure technology could address a biodiversity crisis around the
world.
"The
Jurassic Park scenario is the one people think about when you bring back
extinct species," Mahony said. "I actually don't focus so much back
on the past, as [on] what is possible in the future."
It's
believed the gastric-brooding frog's extinction was caused by a disease that
stems from a fungus spread by humans.
The project
team say they hope Lazarus will provide a stepping stone for the long-extinct
Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine.
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