The dodo, a flightless bird once unique to Mauritius and hunted to extinction there, is to be re-introduced by genetically engineering fresh ones. The genomes of it and the Nicobar pigeon, the dodo's closest living relative, have been fully sequenced by paleogeneticists
US-based biotechnology and genetic engineering company Colossal Biosciences, which is pursuing the "de-extinction" of multiple species, including the woolly mammoth, has entered a partnership with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation to find a suitable location for the large flightless birds.
The dodo has been extinct since 1681; a combination of predation by humans and animals introduced by humans led to its downfall, turning it into a textbook case for extinction. But according to the partners, its return to Mauritius could benefit the dodo's immediate environment and other species.
The science is complicated…
This is a vital step in creating hybridized animals through reproduction. Scientists have previously introduced PGCs to create a chicken fathered by a duck – for which a duck embryo was injected with chicken PGCs, producing an adult duck with the sperm of a rooster. It then bred with a hen, which gave birth to a chick.
Looking forward to sampling Dodo coconut mint ice cream.
Previously at the BBS: This Startup Wants to Resurrect the Dodo Bird From Extinction
