In a first, RNA is recovered from extinct Tasmanian tiger

Researchers said on Tuesday they have recovered RNA from the desiccated skin and muscle of a Tasmanian tiger stored since 1891 at a museum in Stockholm.

The Tasmanian tiger, a dog-sized striped carnivorous marsupial also called the thylacine, once roamed the Australian continent and adjacent islands, an apex predator that hunted kangaroos and other prey. Because of humans, the species is now extinct.

But that does not mean scientists have stopped learning about it. In a scientific first, researchers said on Tuesday they have recovered RNA - genetic material present in all living cells that has structural similarities to DNA - from the desiccated skin and muscle of a Tasmanian tiger stored since 1891 at a museum in Stockholm.

Scientists in recent years have extracted DNA from ancient animals and plants, some of it upwards of 2 million years old. But this study marked the first time that RNA - much less stable than DNA - has been recovered from an extinct species.

While not the focus of this research, the ability to extract, sequence and analyze old RNA could boost efforts by other scientists toward recreating extinct species. Recovering RNA from old viruses also could help decipher the cause of past pandemics.

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid) - biomolecular cousins - are fundamental molecules in cell biology.

DNA is a double-stranded molecule that contains an organism's genetic code, carrying the genes that give rise to all living things. RNA is a single-stranded molecule that carries genetic information it receives from the DNA, putting this information into practice. RNA synthesizes the panoply of proteins that an organism requires to live and works to regulate cell metabolism.

"RNA sequencing gives you a taste of the real biology and metabolism regulation that was happening in the cells and tissues of the Tasmanian tigers before they went extinct," said geneticist and bioinformatician Emilio Mármol Sánchez of the Centre for Palaeogenetics and SciLifeLab in Sweden, lead author of the study published in the journal Genome Research.