Thirteen birds, ages two weeks to three months, occupy a coop at an animal research facility west of Melbourne, Australia. Over the past year, Novak has breed a flock of rock pigeons that are capable of making genome engineering in pigeons far more efficient. In fall 2017, project lead Ben Novak began the first experiments to genetically engineer pigeons, using domestic rock pigeons as a model to begin testing the feasibility of editing genomes of living birds for the extinct Passenger Pigeon’s traits. Furthermore, Passenger Pigeon de-extinction offers a new opportunity to achieve long-term conservation goals for woodland forests in the eastern United States. Her demise sparked the passing of modern conservation laws to protect other endangered species in the U.S.” Now, more than 100 years later, the Passenger Pigeon is again advancing conservation.Īlthough the de-extinction of the Passenger Pigeon will likely take decades, de-extinction research is already generating foundational science that could transform bird conservation. “The last known passenger pigeon-a bird named Martha-died in captivity at a Cincinnati zoo in 1914. Work will continue in 2020, testing different methods to generate Cas9 birds.īy Amy Dockser Marcus Wall Street Journal, Oct. Despite the low transgenesis, this was a major step in optimizing avian genetic engineering methods. However, only one in 100,000 of Apsu’s sperm was found to carry the gene-too low to hope for transgenic offspring.
This made Apsu the world’s first successful pigeon germline chimera.
In March the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) team confirmed that a male laboratory pigeon “Apsu” had tested positive for carrying the Cas9 gene. Project lead, Ben Novak, has hypothesized that Cas9-bird models (including chicken, quail, songbird, and pigeons) will expedite research for the genetic rescue of extinct and endangered avian species to an efficiency currently achieved only in mouse models for mammalian research.
Cas9 is the DNA-cutting part of the CRISPR gene-editing system. The partnerships and insights gained through this project has set the stage for rapid developments in Heath Hen de-extinction as well as other avian projects.įor genetic research to be performed for the extinct species, work has been underway to create an efficient living pigeon model that carries the Cas9 gene in its reproductive, or germline, cells. Our program has been used as a case study by independent researchers in many publications. It has fueled global dialogue on developing de-extinction as a conservation tool.
PASSENGER PIGEON WIKI SERIES
With the help of many partners, a series of significant milestones have been achieved for the Great Passenger Pigeon Comeback.
It is also making it possible to do the foundational science needed for the genetic rescue of all avian species. The project has made significant advances in our understanding of passenger pigeon evolution and ecology. We have set this goal to drive the work forward quickly and to try to restore the ecological role of the passenger pigeon in the wild within our lifetime.
PASSENGER PIGEON WIKI TRIAL
The Great Passenger Pigeon Comeback set an ambitious goal to hatch the first generation of new Passenger Pigeons before 2025 and begin trial releases into the wild thereafter.
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