Will we one day count the dodos, as we count sheep?
In any case, it is the bet of the American biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences, which has become an expert in projects to resurrect extinct species.
Indeed, the company had already proclaimed its ambition to revive species such as the mammoth or the Tasmanian tiger.
But this time the project looks serious, since the firm has just raised 150 million dollars (about 137.5 million euros) to revive this bird, exterminated at the end of the 17th century.
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On paper, the idea sounds simple.
To bring the animal back to life, the company wants to use the dodo's closest living relative, the Nicobar pigeon (also known as the “camail nicobar”).
A species living on the archipelago of the same name and located in the Indian Ocean.
By studying DNA from the Nicobar pigeon and comparing it to that of the dodo, scientists hope to isolate the genes that differentiate the two species...
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