For some time now, the colossal biosciences company has attracted a lot of attention thanks to a project that seems straight out of science fiction: to resuscitate disappeared species, such as the Mammoth or the Devil of Tasmania, with great genetic engineering. She now claims to have succeeded with a cousin of the missing wolf there are several millennia – but many researchers vigorously dispute the claims of the company.
This week, the company struck very hard by offering the cover of the famous Time Magazine. In a long file, the company’s spokespersons claim to have achieved the first ” de-extinction »In the world by giving birth to three small wolves belonging to the species Dog dreaddisappeared more than 10,000 years ago. A claim supported by impressive images of majestic canids with the immaculate white coat, presented as the first modern representatives of this species returned from the dead … but disputed by the experts.
Mission Dé-extinction
This news comes in a period of strong activity for the company. In March, Colossal announced that it had created genetically modified mice with a coat of woolly mammoth. To achieve this, the company has extracted DNA fragments from mammoth fossils. She then analyzed the genome of Asian elephants, the closest living relatives of mammoths, to identify the portions of the genome that have been lost since the disappearance of the latter.
From there, the researchers of the company modified the genome of mouse embryos by integrating synthetic versions of the previously identified genes, thus giving birth to a scope of “ woolly mouse ». According to the company, the creation of these animals represented A real step forward towards the de-extinction of the famous pachyderm.
Disputed claims
But experts estimated that at the purely scientific level, these rodents were not very impressive. It was far from being the first time that genes were thus transferred from one species to another, and the fact that some of them come from a disappeared species does not change much at the technical level. “” It’s just a mouse that has special genes “, Estimated for example Stephan Reisenberg, genetic engineer at the famous Max Planck Institute quoted by the prestigious newspaper Nature.
These same detractors are now responsible for fairly similar arguments, because the procedure which led to the birth of the three cubs is based on the same principles.
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Company researchers began by analyzing DNA fragments extracted from fossil Dog dread. They then made a comparison with the modern gray wolf, the closest relative of this disappeared species, as they had done with the Mammoth and the Asian elephant. Based on this analysis, they then have Modified domestic dog embryosin order to bring them as much as possible to their ancestors.
According to detractors, according to detractors, affirming that this process makes it possible to lead to the de-extinction of a species is fundamentally misleading. And for good reason: The resemblance between the three cubs and their ancestors is only superficial and cosmetic. Indeed, Colossal only modified twenty genes out of a total of more than 19,000. At the genetic level, Remus, Romulus and Khaleesi are only dog-wolf hybrids quite far from the real Dog dreadand it is therefore in no case of the resurrection of a disappeared species.
A controversial project
Beyond technical considerations, some observers believe that this amalgam is particularly regrettable because of the message it sends to the general public. This is particularly the case of Nic Rawlence, a paleogenetic researcher interviewed by the BBC. « Extinction remains irreversible He insists. “” Is the message is that we can now destroy the environment and that species can go out without consequences, since they can be resuscitated? »
And this is only the emerged part of the iceberg. Other observers are also concerned about the ecological benefits of this process. According to them, thus putting genetically modified species in circulation could unbalance whole ecosystemswith potentially catastrophic consequences that we would have a lot of trouble anticipating.
But so far, these recurring criticisms have never discouraged colossal, which continues to defend the merits of its approach. It will therefore be interesting to follow the progress of this work which has probably not finished making people talk.
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