{"id":35182,"date":"2024-01-05T15:44:33","date_gmt":"2024-01-05T14:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/3ab7d14e-472f-42fe-b1a7-4025df7a28dc"},"modified":"2024-01-05T16:35:45","modified_gmt":"2024-01-05T15:35:45","slug":"scientists-are-a-step-closer-to-bringing-the-dodo-back-from-extinction-and-it-may-save-existing-wildlife-on-mauritius","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/scientists-are-a-step-closer-to-bringing-the-dodo-back-from-extinction-and-it-may-save-existing-wildlife-on-mauritius\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists are a step closer to bringing the dodo back from extinction. And it may save existing wildlife on Mauritius"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back in 2022, the dodo’s genome was sequenced from a DNA sample. Now the company trying to resurrect the long-extinct flightless bird is working with Mauritian conservationists to restore habitat ready for eventual re-wilding. <\/p>

By Paul McGuinness\n <\/p>

Published: Friday, 05 January 2024 at 14:44 PM<\/p>

\n\n

The dodo<\/a>, a large flightless bird endemic to the small Indian Ocean island of Mauritius<\/a>, has been extinct since the 17^{th<\/sup>century. But this poster species for extinction is now one step closer to a return to its island home.\u00a0<\/p>}

Ambitious plans to bring back the dodo were announced in January 2023, following the news that scientists at\u00a0the Genomics Institute<\/a> at the University of California, Santa Cruz\u00a0had sequenced the dodo\u2019s genome from a DNA sample taken from a museum specimen.<\/p>

Now Colossal Biosciences<\/a>, the US-based biotechnology and genetic engineering company attempting to resurrect the dodo, has partnered with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation<\/a> (MWF) to restore habitat that will be necessary for its eventual reintroduction.<\/p>