Australian Museum Announces Tasmanian Tiger Cloning Breakthrough.Entertainment & Science Editors SYDNEY, Australia--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--May 28, 2002 After more than two years of ongoing cloning research, the Australian Museum This article is about the museum in Sydney. For the museum in Canberra opened in 2001, see National Museum of Australia. The Australian Museum is the oldest museum in Australia, with an international reputation in the fields of natural history and anthropology. has overcome a crucial obstacle in its continuing efforts to bring back to life the extinct Tasmanian Tiger Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf: see thylacine. . In May 2002 the Evolutionary Biology Unit at the Australian Museum in Sydney successfully replicated individual Tasmanian Tiger genes using a process known as PCR PCR polymerase chain reaction. PCR abbr. polymerase chain reaction Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (Polymerase Chain Reaction polymerase chain reaction (pŏl`ĭmərās') (PCR), laboratory process in which a particular DNA segment from a mixture of DNA chains is rapidly replicated, producing a large, readily analyzed sample of a piece of DNA; the process is ). These new discoveries and the story of the Museum's ongoing efforts have been exclusively documented by the Discovery Channel in End of Extinction: Cloning the Tasmanian Tiger to premiere in 155 countries worldwide on July 7. It will air in the US on TLC TLC total lung capacity; thin-layer chromatography. TLC abbr. 1. thin-layer chromatography 2. on July 11th. This remarkable journey which hopes to turn science fiction into science fact began in 1999 when the Australian Museum embarked on a never before attempted project to bring back an extinct species. The last known Tasmanian Tiger, or Thylacine thylacine (thī`ləsīn') or Tasmanian wolf, carnivorous marsupial, or pouched mammal, of Tasmania. The thylacine is often cited as an example of convergent evolution: It is superficially quite similar to a wolf or dog, , died in captivity in 1936, but a team of biologists believe the animal's extinction may simply be a 70-year hiccup hiccup or hiccough, involuntary spasmodic contraction of the diaphragm followed by a sharp intake of air, which is abruptly stopped by a sudden, involuntary closing of the glottis (opening between the vocal cords); the consequent blocking of air . In 1999 DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. was successfully extracted from an ethanol preserved Tasmanian Tiger pup sample. Additional DNA has been extracted from two other individual pups in 2001. These other tissue sources included bone, tooth, bone marrow and dried muscle. The most significant breakthrough to date has been the replication of individual Tasmanian Tiger genes using the PCR process. These PCR's show that short fragments of the DNA are undamaged and undoubtedly Tasmanian Tiger DNA, and that there is no reason why these should not work in a living cell. "The Australian Museum is absolutely delighted with yet another major breakthrough in the cloning project," said Professor Mike Archer, Director of the Australian Museum. "This technique was an extremely critical step in producing sufficient amounts of Tasmanian Tiger DNA to proceed with the research and extremely good news for future steps in accomplishing this project." The next stage is to make large quantity copies of all the genes of the Tasmanian Tiger so these can be used to construct synthetic chromosomes. "What Professor Mike Archer and his team are attempting is as scientifically exciting and technically challenging as splitting the atom or landing a man on the moon," said Maurice Paleau, Discovery Channel's Executive Producer for the film. "We are excited to capture this amazing story, bringing the Tasmanian Tiger back to life on television screens around the world." The groundbreaking Discovery Channel film traces the remarkable efforts of scientists at the Australian Museum and features never before seen footage of a Tasmanian Tiger as well as state-of-the-art computer generated imagery (CGI CGI in full Common Gateway Interface. Specification by which a Web server passes data between itself and an application program. Typically, a Web user will make a request of the Web server, which in turn passes the request to a CGI application program. ) and animatronic technology. The film also includes exclusive footage of the extraction of Tasmanian Tiger tissue, the processing of the DNA and the next steps of the genetic engineering which could make cloning the Tasmanian Tiger a reality. For more information visit Discovery's press web site at www.press.discovery.com. |
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