Thylacine DNA revived

[Skye]

It's an interesting experiment, because aside the Jurassic Park angle, because there could be some interesting results from gene function experiments from extinct species.

 

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0002240

[SkepticLance]

It is a start. What makes Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) different to other preserved tissue is that a chunk was preserved in ethanol, instead of the more commonly used formalin. Formalin destroys DNA while ethanol preserves it. This permits DNA reactivation.

[jimmydasaint]

Very interesting and contemporary research. However, at the end of the day, we still have gene banks of short DNA sequences from extinct species. I cannot see there being enough intact DNA to restore dinosaur samples, for example. In this case it was a short enhancer sequence.

 

However, is there a possibility of extracting enough mammoth DNA to restore mammoths by somatic cell nuclear transfer using elephant ova?