{"id":38222,"date":"2024-05-09T16:14:52","date_gmt":"2024-05-09T14:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/6c751cc0-e432-42cc-9f32-5ba59be78f5d"},"modified":"2024-05-09T17:35:42","modified_gmt":"2024-05-09T15:35:42","slug":"a-rare-australian-marsupial-is-being-genetically-modified-to-save-it-from-extinction-heres-how","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/a-rare-australian-marsupial-is-being-genetically-modified-to-save-it-from-extinction-heres-how\/","title":{"rendered":"A rare Australian marsupial is being genetically modified to save it from extinction. Here’s how"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scientists are trying to genetically ‘edit’ the endangered northern quoll to make it resistant to the neurotoxin of the invasive cane toad. <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Thursday, 09 May 2024 at 14:14 PM<\/p>

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Scientists say they are close to being able to genetically modify a rare Australian mammal to save it from going extinct as a result of the presence of the non-native cane toad.<\/p>

The northern quoll, a small carnivorous marsupial weighing up to about 1kg and belonging to the same family as the Tasmanian devil<\/a>, has suffered huge population declines and range decreases as a result of habitat loss and the impact of a whole range of introduced species.<\/p>

But the cane toad, native to South and Central America and brought to Australia in the 1930s to deal with a sugar cane pest, is perhaps the quoll\u2019s ultimate nemesis. Along with other members of the Bufonidae family, including the European common toad, cane toads possess a neurotoxin to which no Australian species has resistance because they evolved on a continent entirely free from this group of amphibians<\/a>.<\/p>