The Dodo Bird was sometimes referred to as a 3 foot tall
pigeon. Isolated on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean these
flightless birds were first seen by Portuguese sailors about 1507 and were
exterminated by humans and their introduced animals. The dodo was
extinct by 1681. Below is a short article by Technology and Science
Reporter James Harris about the possibility of bringing the Dodo being brought
back to life. Enjoy!
-Drifter
THE DODO could be brought back to life hundreds of years after
going extinct thanks to a DNA breakthrough.
Scientists have managed to sequence the entire genome of the
flightless bird for the first time, meaning it could one day be cloned.
Experts could edit DNA
from a pigeon to include dodo DNA, as the two have quite similar genetics.
3ft-tall Dodos once
roamed Mauritius but were completely wiped out in the 17th century.
The possibility of their
return was raised after Professor Beth Shapiro revealed that she was planning
to share the complete DNA of a specimen soon, the Telegraph reports.
However, speaking during
a Royal Society of Medicine webinar she warned that bringing back the extinct
bird would not be easy.
