Even if the team is successful in this high-stakes endeavor, they won't be making a carbon copy of the dodo that lived four centuries ago, but an altered, hybrid form.
However, Shapiro said that perfecting these synthetic biology tools will have wider implications for bird conservation. The techniques could allow scientists to move specific genetic traits between bird species to help protect them as habitats shrink and the climate warms.
Mike McGrew, a senior lecturer and personal chair in avian reproductive technologies at the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh, described the project as a "moon launch for synthetic biology." His work involves turning commercial egg-laying hens into surrogates for rare chicken breeds revived from frozen primordial germ cells.
Critics, however, say the vast sums involved could be better put to use protecting the 400 or so bird species, and many other animals and plants, that are listed as endangered. "Flight is very expensive. Why bother maintaining it if you don't need it? All the fruit and food is on the ground, and when you've become flightless, you can become big. That's what the dodo did, it just got bigger and bigger and bigger," Hume said.
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Scientists plot the resurrection of a bird that's been extinct since the 17th century | CNNNo other animal is as inexorably linked with extinction as the dodo, an odd-looking flightless bird that lived on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean until the late 17th century.
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Scientists plot the resurrection of a bird that's been extinct since the 17th centuryEven if the team is successful in this high-stakes endeavor, they won't be making a carbon copy of the dodo that lived four centuries ago, but an altered, hybrid form.
Leer más »
Scientists plot the resurrection of a bird that's been extinct since the 17th centuryEven if the team is successful in this high-stakes endeavor, they won't be making a carbon copy of the dodo that lived four centuries ago, but an altered, hybrid form.
Leer más »
Scientists plot the resurrection of a bird that's been extinct since the 17th centuryEven if the team is successful in this high-stakes endeavor, they won't be making a carbon copy of the dodo that lived four centuries ago, but an altered, hybrid form.
Leer más »
Scientists plot the resurrection of a bird that's been extinct since the 17th centuryEven if the team is successful in this high-stakes endeavor, they won't be making a carbon copy of the dodo that lived four centuries ago, but an altered, hybrid form.
Leer más »
Scientists plot the resurrection of a bird that's been extinct since the 17th centuryEven if the team is successful in this high-stakes endeavor, they won't be making a carbon copy of the dodo that lived four centuries ago, but an altered, hybrid form.
Leer más »