Cloning the Tasmanian Tiger
Part A
The Tasmanian tiger or the Thylacine was a carnivorous marsupial that became extinct in 1933. According to the Australian Museum, the modern Thylacine made its appearance about 4 million years ago on the Australian mainland. However, it became extinct 2200 years ago on the mainland, possibly due to the competition with the dingo. (Evans.2015). The tiger’s main decline in Tasmania was largely due to the impact that humans had. The biggest cause of extinction was the constant bounty that was put on its head, due to the common belief of being a threat to livestock. In 1830 the VDLC offered a bounty for the skin of each thylacine, and then in 1888 the Tasmanian government offered a bounty of £1 for each thylacine …show more content…
Bringing back an extinct species would be a big deal, you would need to ensure that the species is capable of living and surviving to form a stable population. The possible health issues associated with cloned animals. Possible impacts on the environment caused by de-extinction and the ethical considerations. If the thylacine species was to come back in to world, you need ask the question would they survive. The first thylacines would not be able to acquire their unique personality, temperament, and instinct without a proper role model, as not many people who knew how they acted are still alive. This could play a key role in their survival and much research would have to go into how they did act to insure they still do act the same as they did. Breeding the Thylacines would be a difficult task as not only would you have low levels of genetic diversity but also they were only known to have 3-4 young at a time, making a slow and little comeback. Many heath issues are linked to cloned animals. A good example of this is seen in Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell. She developed arthritis at a much younger age than what is normal in sheep, but eventually was put down by her veterinary team because of a progressive lung disease. Although scientists can’t be too sure whether to link Dolly’s early death to cloning or something more natural …show more content…
This essay will be supporting the side of being against de-extinction of the Tasmanian tiger, as it is difficult to be done and effects the current environment. Firstly the big risks associated with cloning in general but also de-extinction. As seen in Dolly the sheep, she had arthritis in her back legs at a much earlier age then to be expected in sheep, she eventually was put down by her veterinary team because of a progressive lung disease. Although scientists can’t be too sure whether to link Dolly’s early death to cloning or something more natural it is definitely something to be considered about cloning. As many other cloned animals has had similar results including obesity, pneumonia, liver failure, and premature death. a main risky part of the process is the chance of failure, The success rate in clones ranges from 0.1 percent to 3 percent, something not wanted to be risked for something with limited number of cells. There are many reasons why failure might happen, the egg with a newly transferred nucleus may not begin to divide or develop properly, impanation of the embryo in to the surrogate mother might fail or the pregnancy itself might fail. Addition to that, teaching the thylacines to be thylacines, without any role model to guide them, it is not known how much natural instinct the animal would have. The limited knowledge about the tiger
Part A
The Tasmanian tiger or the Thylacine was a carnivorous marsupial that became extinct in 1933. According to the Australian Museum, the modern Thylacine made its appearance about 4 million years ago on the Australian mainland. However, it became extinct 2200 years ago on the mainland, possibly due to the competition with the dingo. (Evans.2015). The tiger’s main decline in Tasmania was largely due to the impact that humans had. The biggest cause of extinction was the constant bounty that was put on its head, due to the common belief of being a threat to livestock. In 1830 the VDLC offered a bounty for the skin of each thylacine, and then in 1888 the Tasmanian government offered a bounty of £1 for each thylacine …show more content…
Bringing back an extinct species would be a big deal, you would need to ensure that the species is capable of living and surviving to form a stable population. The possible health issues associated with cloned animals. Possible impacts on the environment caused by de-extinction and the ethical considerations. If the thylacine species was to come back in to world, you need ask the question would they survive. The first thylacines would not be able to acquire their unique personality, temperament, and instinct without a proper role model, as not many people who knew how they acted are still alive. This could play a key role in their survival and much research would have to go into how they did act to insure they still do act the same as they did. Breeding the Thylacines would be a difficult task as not only would you have low levels of genetic diversity but also they were only known to have 3-4 young at a time, making a slow and little comeback. Many heath issues are linked to cloned animals. A good example of this is seen in Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell. She developed arthritis at a much younger age than what is normal in sheep, but eventually was put down by her veterinary team because of a progressive lung disease. Although scientists can’t be too sure whether to link Dolly’s early death to cloning or something more natural …show more content…
This essay will be supporting the side of being against de-extinction of the Tasmanian tiger, as it is difficult to be done and effects the current environment. Firstly the big risks associated with cloning in general but also de-extinction. As seen in Dolly the sheep, she had arthritis in her back legs at a much earlier age then to be expected in sheep, she eventually was put down by her veterinary team because of a progressive lung disease. Although scientists can’t be too sure whether to link Dolly’s early death to cloning or something more natural it is definitely something to be considered about cloning. As many other cloned animals has had similar results including obesity, pneumonia, liver failure, and premature death. a main risky part of the process is the chance of failure, The success rate in clones ranges from 0.1 percent to 3 percent, something not wanted to be risked for something with limited number of cells. There are many reasons why failure might happen, the egg with a newly transferred nucleus may not begin to divide or develop properly, impanation of the embryo in to the surrogate mother might fail or the pregnancy itself might fail. Addition to that, teaching the thylacines to be thylacines, without any role model to guide them, it is not known how much natural instinct the animal would have. The limited knowledge about the tiger