Extinct For 200 Yrs, Great Auk to Get New Life Using DNA

                Scientists are planning to bring the extinct Great Auk back from dead, almost 200 years after the penguin-sized, flightless birds disappeared. Researchers discuss reintroducing the flightless marine birds onto the Farne Islands, England. Until the species’ extinction in 19^th century, Great Auks ranged across the Atlantic from northern Europe to Iceland, Canada and the US. Flightlessness made the birds vulnerable to hunting and exploitation for its meat and feathers that reached industrial scale. In 1844, the last birds in final known colony on Iceland Island were killed. Revive and restore, a US based institute, which attempts “genetic rescue” of endangered and extinct species, said it plans to extract Great Auk DNA from fossils or preserved organs and then use data to sequence the animal’s genetic code. The important genes would then be edited into the cells of its nearest living relative, the razorbill. Fertilized embryos would then be implanted into a bird big enough to lay a great auk egg, probably a goose.