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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteNot yet. Colossal Biosciences and the University of Melbourne’s TIGRR Lab are pursuing a staged effort to create a thylacine-like animal, but the milestones the university reported on 17 October 2024 were not a thylacine birth. The proposed animal would be genetically engineered using a living marsupial relative—not a restored member of the extinct thylacine population.
What has the project actually achieved?
The University of Melbourne reported on 17 October 2024 that its TIGRR Lab, led by Professor Andrew Pask, had been working with Colossal Biosciences since 2022. The reported results were steps toward a possible animal, not a completed resurrection.
| Reported milestone | What it means—and what it does not |
|---|---|
| A reconstructed thylacine genome estimated to be more than 99.9 per cent accurate | A high-quality genetic reference for the project; not proof that scientists can recreate every feature of the animal or make it develop normally. |
| More than 300 genetic markers edited into fat-tailed dunnart cells | Progress editing cells from a living relative; not a living thylacine or a complete thylacine genome in an animal. |
| An approach to induce ovulation in a dunnart was optimized | Progress on reproductive biology that could support later stages; not evidence that a thylacine-like embryo has been carried to birth. |
| Fertilized single-cell embryos were cultured beyond halfway through pregnancy in an artificial-uterus device | A reported embryo-culture milestone; not a reported live birth or proof that the full proposed process works. |
The university’s account did not report a live thylacine birth. The available reporting cited here also does not establish that the complete pipeline has since produced one.
When might a thylacine return?
ABC News reported the project’s ambition as seeing a Tasmanian tiger in the wild “within 10 years.” That is a project goal, not an independently validated schedule or a guaranteed release date. The report also noted that independent scientists wanted the claims supported by peer-reviewed data.
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Even if a viable embryo were achieved, a birth would not by itself mean the animal was ready for the wild. Development, health, behavior, reproductive capacity, animal welfare, and the suitability of any release site would all need to be addressed. The reported milestones do not establish when—or whether—those steps could be completed.
What animal would be used as a surrogate?
The proposed biological platform centers on the fat-tailed dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata), a small living marsupial identified as the thylacine’s closest living relative used in the work. Nature’s 8 July 2024 profile described the thylacine as a dog-sized Australian apex predator. A dunnart is a close relative, not a small version of a thylacine; using one does not make the resulting animal genetically identical to the extinct species.
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The project’s proposed workflow, published by Colossal, sets out these stages:
- Sequence the thylacine genome and the genomes of close living relatives.
- Use computational biology to connect genetic differences with traits.
- Establish marsupial cell lines and induced pluripotent stem cells.
- Edit selected thylacine-associated traits into a dasyurid genome.
- Transfer a cell nucleus into a dunnart egg and create an embryo.
- Implant the embryo into a surrogate and complete gestation before maturation and birth.
This is a proposed sequence of work, not a record that every stage has been completed successfully. The milestones publicly described by the University of Melbourne in October 2024 covered only parts of it.
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Would the result be a real thylacine?
“Bringing back” can suggest restoring the original species exactly, but that is not what this approach would do. It aims to produce a genetically engineered, thylacine-like animal by editing a living relative. It would not recover the original thylacine population unchanged.
The distinction matters because a genome is not a full set of instructions for recreating an animal. ABC News quoted independent scientist Kristofer Helgen warning that a genome “isn’t a genetic manual.” DNA sequence is essential, but development also depends on how genes function in cells and embryos, along with physiology, gestation, and other biological factors. A sequence that is estimated to be highly accurate does not, on its own, demonstrate that those systems can be reproduced.
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Why do scientists urge caution?
Andrew Pask described DNA as the “blueprint” for building a thylacine in comments reported by ABC News. Other experts stressed that the practical demonstration matters as much as the claim. ABC quoted Parwinder Kaur welcoming the work while saying it would be valuable to release the claims alongside the data.
The peer-reviewed Nature Ecology & Evolution study using thylacine genomic data examined the species’ evolutionary position, historical demography, and convergent traits with canids. That kind of genome research helps explain why the thylacine is a plausible subject for study, especially given preserved museum specimens. It does not show that a reconstructed animal can be born, thrive, or safely fill the extinct species’ ecological role.
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- Genetic engineering: The proposed animal would have an edited genome based on a living marsupial, not an untouched copy of the extinct species.
- Normal development: The reported embryo-culture result does not establish a healthy birth or normal development through adulthood.
- Animal welfare: Gestation, health, and the effects of the process on embryos, surrogates, and offspring would need careful evaluation.
- Independent evidence: Peer-reviewed data and reproducible results would help establish what the reported milestones demonstrate.
- Release planning: A wild release would raise separate questions about habitat, ecological effects, and long-term monitoring.
Could the work help living endangered marsupials?
That may be the project’s most immediate conservation value. Pask told the University of Melbourne that advances in marsupial assisted reproduction could improve breeding capacity for critically endangered captive species, including Tasmanian devils affected by devil facial tumor disease.
Reproductive techniques that work for living endangered animals could have practical value even if a thylacine-like animal is never born or released. That benefit is distinct from de-extinction: improving a breeding program for a threatened species does not depend on recreating an extinct one.
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