Forgot password
Enter the email address you used when you joined and we'll send you instructions to reset your password.
If you used Apple or Google to create your account, this process will create a password for your existing account.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Reset password instructions sent. If you have an account with us, you will receive an email within a few minutes.
Something went wrong. Try again or contact support if the problem persists.
via Public Domain

Paris Hilton and the Hemsworths are trying to resurrect an extinct animal

Celebrities are helping to free this celebrated species from extinction.

Some big names are behind a company planning to bring an iconic animal back from extinction.

Recommended Videos

Paris Hilton, Tony Robbins, the Winklevoss twins, and the Hemsworth family have invested in Colossal Biosciences, a Dallas-based company specializing in genetic resurrection, first for the woolly mammoth and, more recently, for the thylacine, better known as the Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf.

The thylacine was the last sizeable predator to inhabit Tasmania. The wolf-like marsupial grew to six feet long and weighed in the range of 50 pounds. After years of overhunting and prior extirpations in New Guinea and mainland Australia, the last documented individual died in Tasmania’s Hobart Zoo in 1936.

Although neither the thylacine nor the woolly mammoth has yet to be resurrected, the company aims to mix the extinct species’ DNA with that of their closest extant relatives to recreate their genomes. In the thylacine’s case, the missing link is the dunnart, a mouse-like Australian marsupial. “We then take living cells from our dunnart and edit their DNA every place where it differs from the thylacine,” said Andrew Pask, a professor at the University of Melbourne and lead scientist on Colossal’s project. “We are essentially engineering our dunnart cell to become a Tasmanian tiger cell.”

Chris Hemsworth, who hails from Melbourne, released a statement to Bloomberg about the sci-fi-esque endeavor:

“The Tassie Tigerā€™s extinction had a devastating effect on our ecosystem and we are thrilled to support the revolutionary conservation efforts that are being made by Dr. Pask and the entire Colossal team.”

While we don’t know the other celebrities’ motivations for funding this project, we can make an obvious guess: it’s cool!


We Got This Covered is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission.Ā Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
Author
Image of Shane Fraser