An extinct rat shows CRISPR’s limits for resurrecting species
Even a few missing genes in animals’ re-created genomes could be a problem, a study suggests
The Christmas Island rat (illustrated) went extinct in the early 1900s. Editing the genome of a living relative of the rat could create something that looks like the extinct rodent, but it would lack some important genes, a study finds.
Joseph Smit, Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1887