Next up, the Velociraptor.

Tiger may find new life through mouse

Scientists extract DNA from extinct Tasmanian cat and implant it into rodent's embryo
May 21, 2008 04:30 AM

SYDNEY, Australia–Scientists from Australia and the United States claimed a first yesterday, saying they had "resurrected" a gene from the extinct Tasmanian tiger by implanting it in a mouse.

The scientists extracted DNA from a 100-year-old Tasmanian Tiger or thylacine, which had been preserved in ethanol in a museum, and injected it into a mouse embryo where it was "expressed" or produced in cartilage.

The results, published in the international scientific journal PloS ONE, show the thylacine gene had a similar function in developing cartilage and bone development as the gene in the mouse, said the scientists from the University of Melbourne and the University of Texas

"This is the first time that DNA from an extinct species has been used to induce a functional response in another living organism," said research leader Andrew Pask of the University of Melbourne.

Scientists from the University of Texas also participated in the research, which was published today in PloS ONE.

The announcement was hailed here as raising the possibility of recreating extinct animals.

The last known Tasmanian tiger died in captivity in 1936 in the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania.

{From the Star}