‘De-Extinction’ Company Says It’s Very, Very Close to a Complete Tasmanian Tiger Genome

Colossal Biosciences, a company mainly known for intending to genetically engineer proxies for several iconic extinct species, announced this week that it has made major steps towards the de-extinction of the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger.

The thylacine was a carnivorous marsupial that was declared extinct in 1936, after decades of hunting and habitat loss. In a press release, Colossal reported that its reconstructed thylacine genome is about 99.9% complete, with 45 remaining gaps they aim to close through further sequencing in the coming months.

Last year, a team of researchers unaffiliated with Colossal recovered RNA from a thylacine—a first in an extinct species—for the first time, for which they earned recognition in the Gizmodo Science Fair. In the recent Colossal release, the company stated it was able to isolate long strands of RNA from a 110-year-old thylacine specimen preserved in ethanol.

Colossal declared in 2022 that it would attempt to “de-extinct” the thylacine; since no living thylacines exist, de-extinction actually refers to the creation of proxy species for the original animals. Proxy species are, for all intents...