Bluebuck to be brought back from extinction with Jurassic Park technology
A rare blue antelope hunted to extinction within 33 years of it being first scientifically recorded is to be brought back from the dead.
The bluebuck, which had a prized silvery-slate blue coat and distinctive horns, disappeared from Africa in 1800, and just five preserved specimens remain in museums.
It will now be brought back to life by Colossal Biosciences, the US biotech firm that has already resurrected the dire wolf , and is planning to “de-extinct” the woolly mammoth , dodo, thylacine and moa.
Dr Parker Pennington, an assistant reproductive scientist at Colossal, said: “When we are successful, it will mean we have brought back a species that has not walked this Earth for hundreds of years.”
The bluebuck, once native to southern Africa, was the first large African mammal to go extinct during recorded history.
Standing approximately four feet tall at the shoulder, and with horns reaching nearly two feet in length, it was smaller than its close relatives – the roan and sable antelopes – but shared their distinctive features, including a sturdy neck and long, backwards-curving, ringed black horns.
To bring back the bluebuck, scientists at Colossal have decoded its genetic make-up from a specimen at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, and are identifying DNA that makes it different from antelopes today – such as its small body size, bluish-grey coat, and characteristic white facial pattern.
The team has already created roan antelope stem cells, which can be turned into any cell in the body. They can use these cells to plug in the new DNA and coax it to grow into tissue to test whether their genetic changes really do bring the correct characteristics, such as coat pigmentation.
The roan stem cells can also be programmed to become sperm and egg cells.
When the team is happy that the correct genetic traits have been identified, they will transfer the bluebuck DNA into the roan sperm and eggs, which can then be fertilised, and the resulting embryo transferred into a roan surrogate mother. The mother should then give birth to a recreated bluebuck.
The process is similar to that shown in Jurassic Park, in which dinosaur DNA was extracted from amber, and the gaps plugged with frog genes. In this case, it is the other way round, with a living animal’s DNA swapped out for the genetics of an extinct one.
Dr Darya Tourzane, a reproductive biology scientist at Colossal, said: “In 1777, we took advantage of a creature and led it to extinction. It’s now our responsibility to correct that.
“I’d like my children one day to be able to see these species. There’s plenty of antelope species getting hunted because of their beautiful coat colours or horns.”
As well as bringing back the bluebuck, the project will help save endangered antelope species at risk of extinction from habitat loss, poaching, and climate change.
Data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature show that, of the world’s 90 antelope species, 29 are currently threatened with extinction, and populations are declining in nearly two-thirds of antelope species.
Five species – the addax, hirola, Ader’s duiker, dama gazelle, and saiga – are now classified as critically endangered.
As well as working on the bluebuck, the team is using biobanked genetic material from endangered populations to create viable embryos, which could restore species on the brink of extinction.
“African antelopes have long been neglected in global conservation,” said Dr Beth Shapiro, the chief science officer at Colossal Biosciences.
“While other megafauna benefit from advanced reproductive technologies and extensive genomic research, antelopes, despite being among the most diverse and rapidly declining large mammals on Earth, have been left behind.
“The bluebuck de-extinction project changes that. We’re bringing back a species that played a vital role in its ecosystem, and building the scientific foundation for antelope conservation before more of its relatives are lost.”
Colossal is working with Endangered Wildlife Trust and Advanced Conservation Strategies to find suitable reintroduction sites in South Africa and make sure its return will be beneficial to the landscape.
The species once roamed the open grassland ecosystems of the southwestern Cape, and introducing the animals is expected to boost local plant life.
Dr Jason Herrick, the director of assisted reproduction at Colossal, said: “This is something relatively recent, something we did, and we can bring that back where the ecosystem still has that void that we can fill. It’s our responsibility to correct that.”
Critics have claimed that Colossal’s animals are not really extinct species, but rather hybrids of animals that are still alive.
Dr Shapiro has admitted that its work will not produce a “100 per cent identical” extinct creature.
