The Return of the Dead: The Race to Revive the Tasmanian Tiger
By: Leo Dahyuck Im
Biotechnology firm Colossal Biosciences is utilizing CRISPR gene editing to resurrect the extinct Thylacine, aiming to bring back ecological balance to the wilderness of Tasmania.
On March 12 2026, the biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences opened its doors to the public for the first time in its Dallas, Texas headquarters, offering a view inside the gnome engineering lab, the center of a $615 million effort to revive extinct species. The facility features gene editing stations with high precision and immersive video walls showing species data for functional resurrection.
The Future of Resurrection: Inside the Colossal Biosciences engineering lab in Dallas, where researchers use high precision gene-editing stations to map the Thylacine genome. (Image courtesy of Colossal Biosciences)
At the core of this high stakes mission is the “Thylacine,” or “Tasmanian Tiger,” a predator that hasn't been seen alive in 90 years.
The Thylacine was a striped, carnivorous marsupial that resided in Tasmania until the last known specimen died in a zoo in 1936. Now, researchers say they are near success in bringing back the Tasmanian Tiger back to nature, backed by massive venture capital and celebrity investors like former NFL star Tom Brady and filmmaker Peter Jackson.
Unlike the traditional method of cloning, which needs a living cell of the animal, the team at Colossal, partnering with the University of Melbourne's TIGRR Lab, is using CRISPR-Cas9 technology to overcome the gap between past and present. Since no complete living DNA of the Tasmanian Tiger exists, scientists are using a process named "functional de-extinction,". This begins with a platinum level genome of the Thylacine, sequenced by Dr. Andrew Pask from a 110 year old specimen preserved in alcohol. Geneticists at Colossal Biosciences and researchers at the University of Melbourne are now using a tiny relative with the size of a mouse called the fat tailed dunnart as a genetic template. Using CRISPR molecular scissors, they are swapping thousands of dunnart DNA sequences for Thylacine genes to reconstruct the predator's physical features.
The Genetic Blueprint: The fat-tailed dunnart, a mouse sized relative of the Tasmanian Tiger, provides the living cells and genetic template for the de-extinction process. (Image Courtesy of MelBourne TIGRR Lab)
Dr. Andrew Pask, serving as a Chief Biology Officer at Colossal, argues that the species is a crucial part of the environment. "The thylacine was the only apex predator in the Tasmanian ecosystem, so no other animal was able to fill its place once it was lost," says Pask. He explains that the loss of the animal caused a trophic cascade in Tasmania due to its position as an apex predator, leading to the spread of invasive species and a contagious facial tumor disease currently wiping out the population of Tasmanian Devils. Pask believes reviving Thylacine will act as a regulator, leading to the stabilization of the ecosystem and restoring biodiversity that was missing for roughly a century.
Despite massive funding, the project is encountering a great pushback from conservationists who worry about unpredictable, unintentional biological results. Jeramy Austin, Associate Professor at the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, has been a famous skeptic of the credibility of de-extinction. Critics have raised several critical concerns, specifically the Hybrid Risk. Since the new animal will be a genetic hybrid, part dunnart and part tiger, it might behave unpredictably, which may function as an invasive species itself, thus worsening the situation of Tasmania's ecosystem. Conservation scientists, such as Professor Corey Bradshaw from Flinders University, argue that the millions of dollars spent on resurrecting dead animals would be better off being used for saving species that are currently on the brink of extinction. There are also ethical concerns over a predator raised in a lab which has no natural parents to teach it how to hunt or survive on its own in the wild.
As Colossal continues to make progress, people are watching to see if the technology will be a key to healing Earth or a key opening the biological Pandora's box. The company expects to see the first functional Thylacine calves within the next few years.
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