In a recently announced partnership with Texas biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences, Australian researchers hope that their dream of bringing the extinct thylacine 'back to life' is now ready for a 'giant leap' closer to fruition.

Scientists at the University of Melbourne’s TIGRR Lab (Thylacine Integrated Genetic Restoration Research) believe the new partnership, which combines Colossal's expertise in CRISPR gene editing, could produce the first thylacine joey within a decade. The genetic engineering company made headlines in 2021 by announcing an ambitious plan to revive something similar to a woolly mammoth by creating elephant-mammoth hybrids, or 'mammophants' (mammophants).

However, 'de-extinction', as this type of research is known, is a highly controversial field. It is frequently criticised for attempting to 'play God' or for distracting from the conservation of living species. So, should we bring back the thylacine? We asked five experts.
*The thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf, went extinct in the first half of the last century as a result of active hunting.