Graphic by Henry Barraclough
Do you want to know what de-extinction is? Well, let’s hear all about it from Suzie Jenkins, whose science project shows that any kid can bring their homework into the real world! Suzie’s science teacher said that in 1936, the Tasmanian Tiger went extinct.
Today, scientists at the University of Melbourne are trying to bring back the Tasmanian Tiger. To do this, they reconstructed the genome of the Tasmanian Tiger using RNA they recovered from a 110 year old preserved Tasmanian Tiger head. They’re going to use this genome to change the DNA in cells from the Fat-tailed Dunnart, the Tasmanian Tiger’s closest living relative, to make it more like the Tasmanian Tiger.
Isn’t that cool? Well, Suzie thought so too! Suzie loves learning and wondered how she could apply what she learned in science class to her boring little life.
Suzie used to love Christmas. Well, at least until Grandma passed away. Grandma always baked the best pie and gave Suzie the best presents. Now, there’s one less chair at the dinner table, and Suzie has to sit next to Great Aunt Michelle instead. Great Aunt Michelle smells funny and always says mean things about Suzie’s weight when Suzie asks for seconds. Suzie misses Grandma.
Suzie remembered how Grandma used to carry her around when she was little and it reminded her of how marsupials carry their babies. Suzie hypothesized that if the Melbourne scientists can de-extinct the Tasmanian Tiger, maybe she can de-extinct Grandma!
But how?
Well, Great Aunt Michelle is the closest living relative to Grandma, just like how the Fat-tailed Dunnart is the closest living relative to the Tasmanian Tiger. This makes perfect sense because Great Aunt Michelle has a fat tail too! So all Suzie has to do is change the DNA in Great Aunt Michelle’s cells to be more like Grandma’s.
The scientists used a preserved 110 year old Tasmanian Tiger head to do this. Grandma’s head has been buried deep in the cemetery for a little over two months. Do you think the head will still be preserved once Suzie digs it up?
Suzie is really excited about her experiment because life just hasn’t felt the same without Grandma. Grandma was always really critical of Suzie’s mom. Like when Suzie’s mom scolded Suzie for having a messy room, Grandma pointed out everything messy in the whole house.
After that, Suzie’s mom was never grumpy about her room. But now that Grandma’s gone, her mom has been a little too confident. Suzie’s teacher said that sometimes, prey have a built in genetic memory of their predators even if they haven’t seen one in a while. Maybe once Grandma’s back, Suzie’s mom will remember what it felt like to be prey, and everything will go back to normal!
But uh-oh! In order to de-extinct grandma, Suzie needs about $15 million dollars! Can you help? Maybe you could pull out all your teeth and sell them to the tooth-fairy! Or maybe tonight, when your mom is asleep, you could tip toe over to her purse and look inside. Make sure you’re very quiet! Find her wallet and take out her credit card. Write down the long number on the front, the date on the back, and the three digit number called a CVV Code, then mail it to the Highlightz board and we’ll make sure Suzie gets it.
