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The thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian tiger, is the second undertaking by Colossal, a Texas-based biotechnology “de-extinction” company that last year announced it planned to use genetic engineering techniques to
recreate the woolly mammoth and return it to the Arctic tundra.
Its new project is a partnership with the University of Melbourne, which earlier this year
received a $5m philanthropic gift to open a thylacine genetic restoration lab. The lab’s team has previously
sequenced the genome of a juvenile specimen held by Museums Victoria, providing what its leader, Prof Andrew Pask, called “a complete blueprint on how to essentially build a thylacine”.