RNA recovered from extinct animal in world first

Scientists, for the first time, have recovered RNA from an extinct species, the Tasmanian tiger, and this development raises hope for the possible resurrection of animals that were previously considered lost forever, according to researchers from Stockholm University. They were able to sequence RNA molecules from a 130-year-old Tasmanian tiger specimen preserved at room temperature in Sweden's Museum of Natural History.

Love Dalén, Professor of evolutionary genomics, Stockholm University said "RNA has never been extracted and sequenced from an extinct species before. And that makes it quite interesting because what we can use this information for, among other things, is to actually get a snapshot of what's going on in the cells, when this extinct species, this individual died." The ability to recover RNA from extinct species constitutes a small step in the direction of in the future maybe being able to resurrect extinct species."

The last known living Tasmanian tiger or thylacine, a carnivorous marsupial, died in captivity in 1936 at the Beaumaris Zoo in Tasmania. Scientists have focused their de-extinction efforts on the Tasmanian tiger as its natural habitat in Tasmania is largely preserved.