'Dumb as a dodo' cliche might just lose its glimmer as scientists are trying to revive extinct bird

Gene editing scientists might just be able to achieve an astounding breakthrough in discovering ways for the resurrection of the dodo, a Mauritian bird last seen in the 17th century.The feat will be achieved with the aid of new age gene-editing techniques but before putting pen on paper, the scientists will first look for potential traits in the dodo genome which can be revived inside the body of a close species.Dallas-based Colossal announced the initiation of its dodo de-extinction project with aid of $150 million cash from the US Innovative Technology Fund.

The sequencing of these dodo genomes, which are as old as time, can metaphorically fuel life in the dead bird and bring it back to life.Colossal Biosciences, the gene editing company is the one which is involved in this significant project. If everything goes according to the plan, the project will lay a breakthrough impact on the conservation of other rare species which is on the verge of getting extinct.

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If the species comes to life again with the help of gene-editing techniques the cliche "dumb as a dodo" will lose its glimmer.The closest candidate which can aid in the research is a pigeon. With the gene-editing technique, the researchers will use genetic material from pigeons that can be modified to reflect key traits of the dodo, including its flightlessness.

However, the dodo revival gene sequencing is different from editing the DNA of a cell and then transferring it into an egg cell to create an embryo. The said technique is only workable with mammoths and is not feasible for the dodo.

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"The key difference with birds, and why we're much further behind in trying to use any sort of gene editing or genetic engineering approaches, is that we just don't have access to the egg cell at that developmental stage," Beth Shapiro, a paleogeneticist pointed out.

So how can dodo be made 'alive'?

For dodo's revival, the team of researchers will need to work with primordial germ cells (PGCs).

These primordial germ cells can be extracted from a bird's egg, for instance from a pigeon's egg, about a day after it's laid.After that, the eggs can be cultured in a dish where the gene editing scientists can make edits to the DNA of the PGCs until they become dodo-like.

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Later, the scientists can implant the PGCs back into the egg, which would eventually hatch into a very normal pegion, with one key change. Its reproductive cells contain some of these dodo-like cells. After fertilization, those cells might grow into dodos.

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