The University of Melbourne says its "one step closer" to bringing the extinct Tasmanian Tiger back to life following a $5 million philanthropic gift.
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The funding will allow the university to establish a "world-class research lab for de-extinction and marsupial conservation science". Specifically, the funds will establish the Thylacine Integrated Genetic Restoration Research - or "TIGRR" - Lab.
One of the aims of the lab is to, ultimately, develop technologies that could achieve de-extinction of the thylacine - commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger - as well as "provide crucial tools for threatened species conservation".
The project will be led by Professor Andrew Pask from the university's School of BioSciences.
"While our ultimate goal is to bring back the thylacine, we will immediately apply our advances to conservation science, particularly our work with stem cells, gene editing and surrogacy, to assist with breeding programs to prevent other marsupials from suffering the same fate as the Tassie tiger," he said.
The species was once widespread across Australia but the last known Tasmanian Tiger died in captivity in 1936. According to Professor Pask, the research will investigate whether marsupial stem cells could be used make an embryo which could then be successfully transferred into a host surrogate uterus, such as a dunnart or Tasmanian devil.
The sizable donation came from the Wilson Family Trust. Mr Russell Wilson said the story of the thylacine and its unceremonious exit from this world really touched his family.
"We came across Professor Pask's incredible work, believe it or not, via some YouTube clips on him talking about his research and passion for the thylacine and Australian marsupials. We realise that we are on the verge of a great breakthrough in science through improvements in technology and its application to the genome," Mr Wilson said.
"The benefits of this open research will be wide and varied."