Louise Sallé, edited by Laura Laplaud 10:40 a.m., February 09, 2023
American scientists announced last week that they could bring the dodo back to life, this bird that disappeared at the end of the 17th century and lived on Mauritius.
For this, they want to inject its genome into the nicobar pigeon, a species that looks like it.
But what is the genome?
After its disappearance in the 17th century, the Mauritian dodo could well make a comeback on earth, as promised by the American company Colossal Biosciences, which wishes to inject the genome of the bird into the nicobar pigeon.
Their offspring will have, in this way, genetic characteristics close to the dodo… But what is the genome?
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All of the genetic material within a living being
The genome is all the genetic material found within a living being, in the nucleus of these cells.
At the heart of these cells are genes.
They each have a very distinct DNA sequence which determines the physical aspect of this living being, its size, its color, its shape.
And all this genetic material, the genome therefore, constitutes his physical appearance.
We can now modify this genome by touching DNA sequencing.
It can also be reproduced identically, outside the living being.
This is cloning which is very difficult to obtain, even if experiments have already been carried out on sheep and cows.
This is what could happen with the dodo if American scientists succeed in their bet.