The first revolution: They collected RNA from the Tasmanian tiger, a species that became extinct 100 years ago.

Geneticists have, for the first time, been able to isolate and decode RNA molecules from a long-extinct creature.

The genetic material – which came from a thylacine or Tasmanian tiger, a specimen in the collection of the Natural History Museum in Stockholm – provides scientists with further insight into how the animal’s genome works. The researchers, including Greek, published their findings in Scientific journal Genome Research.

“RNA allows you to get into the cell, into the tissue, and find the actual biology that was preserved in time in this particular animal, just before it died,” explains study leader Emilio Marmol Sánchez, a biologist at the Center for Paleogenetics. “. In Sweden.

The marsupial was a carnivorous marsupial about the size of a coyote. They disappeared 2,000 years ago from almost everywhere except the Australian island of Tasmania, where their populations were eventually hunted to extinction by European settlers. The last marsupial to live in captivity, named Benjamin, died in 1936 at Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart, Tasmania.

As Sanchez explains, although scientists’ goal is not to bring the species back to life, a better understanding of the structure of the Tasmanian tiger’s genome could contribute to recently begun efforts to bring the animal back in some form.

Reviving extinct species

Andrew Pask, who leads the scientific project Follicular revivalThe study was described as “pioneering.”

“Until now, we thought that only DNA remained in ancient museum specimens, but this research has shown that you can also collect RNA from tissues,” notes the University of Melbourne professor and head of the Ticino Tiger Integrated Genetic Recovery Research Laboratory program.

«This will allow us to significantly deepen our understanding of the biology of extinct animals“It helps us create much better extinct genomes,” he adds.

It was noted that Ancient DNA, under the right conditions, can last for more than a million yearsIt is a revolution in the understanding of the past by scholars.

RNA is a temporary copy of a piece of DNA. It is more fragile and degrades faster than DNAThat is why until recently it was considered not to have a long lifespan.

Source: CNN