Researchers Find Genetic RNA from a Tasmanian Tiger That Was Extinct

Scientists claim to have retrieved genetic material from the long-extinct Tasmanian tiger, an Australian mammal. Scientists may be able to learn more about these creatures thanks to this finding before they vanished from the planet. RNA, also known as ribonucleic acid, is the recoverable substance. A class of molecules essential to genetic function found in all living cells is called RNA. It is comparable to DNA, the molecules that hold the genetic information of an organism. Genetic information is carried by RNA, which gets it from DNA. In order for organisms to survive, groupings of proteins are combined into RNA, which regulates cell metabolism.

According to the researchers, the RNA was extracted from the skin and muscle of a Tasmanian tiger that had been kept in storage in a Stockholm, Sweden, museum since 1891. Recently, researchers have extracted DNA from a variety of extinct creatures and plants. However, according to the team, this was the first time RNA from an extinct species has been found. According to scientists, the Australian continent and its neighboring islands were previously home to Tasmanian tigers. At the time, it was a top predator that preyed on kangaroos and other creatures. It is thought that in 1936, a Tasmanian zoo housed the last known Tasmanian tiger, which perished. Emilio Mármol Sánchez works at the Stockholm-based Centre for Palaeogenetics. He was the primary author of a study that described the findings of the investigation. The study was just published in the journal Genome Research.

Sánchez stated to the Reuters news agency Scientists can get “a taste of the real biology” of Tasmanian tiger cells and tissues prior to their extinction through the use of RNA material. The study’s co-author was Stockholm University’s Marc Friedländer. “We need to understand what gene complements extinct species have, as well as what the genes were doing and which were active,” he stated. The length of time that RNA could last at room temperature has been questioned by scientists. The remains were in a semi-mummified state while they were kept at the Swedish Natural History Museum. In other words, internal organs were lost yet skin, muscles, and bones were still present.