SCIENTISTS are bringing the dodo back to life 400 years after its extinction.
They will use gene-editing techniques to mine the dodo genome for traits they can put in a pigeon – its closest relative.
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The flightless dodo, native to Mauritius, was wiped off the face of the Earth in the 17th century.
The gene editing company involved, Colossal Biosciences, is already undertaking plans to bring back the woolly mammoth and the thylacine, a wolf-like predator last seen in Tasmania in 1930.
But reviving a bird will be the first to use an external egg — meaning scientists can modify pigeon eggs without having to meddle with a living animal’s reproductive system.
US entrepreneur Ben Lamm, the co-founder and chief executive of Colossal, said they could even rehome the bird in its former country.
He said: “We are very transparent that [the place] to reintroduce the dodo into the wild would be Mauritius.”
But bringing the bird back has ruffled feathers within the science community – with some saying the money would best be spent saving living creatures.
