De-extinction

The ethics and logistics of "de-extinction" - bringing extinct species back to life using modern cloning technology - is the talk of the science blogs right now. Australian researchers have already taken the first step to revive a frog that went extinct 30 years ago. They located frozen specimens of the gastric brooding frog (Image above) and used a laboratory technique known as somatic cell nuclear transfer to implant dead cell nuclei into a fresh egg from a related frog. So far, the embryos that they have created have only lived 36 hours. "...I'd like to say within the next couple of years we'll have this guy hopping back again," comments Mike Archer of the University of New South Wales. If all goes well recreating them in the laboratory, the resurrected frogs will presumably be allowed to procreate and give birth naturally – through their mouths.

 

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