Everyone remembers pizza rat, the rodent carrying a slice bigger than his body in New York CIty, but who recalls the Christmas Island rat? Some researchers are trying to refamiliarize us with the twitchy little guy.
Christmas Island rat was last seen in 1903, making it one of 543 species that has been confirmed as extinct since 1900. But, a group of researchers are currently working on a way to resurrect the rambunctiously large rodent.
A study published in the journal Current Biology on Wednesday explained how scientists are using gene-editing technology in an attempt to bring back the extinct Christmas Island rat (Rattus macleari).
The species is said to grow as big as 10 inches long, plus a 7-inch long tail. Researchers determined that the extinct rat is closely related to the Norway brown rat, sharing 95% of the same genetic material, according to USA Today.
Tom Gilbert, one of the study's co-authors and head of the Center for Evolutionary Hologenomics at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, said that is one of the main reasons they decided to try and use the Christmas Island rat as a test for de-extinction.
"We did this as a proof of principle that you might not get back what you think you're going to get," Gilbert said, per NBC News.
However, the study showed that researchers could not recover 5% of the Christmas Island rat's original genes. Oh, rats! But why is that?
"They have evolved to be so different, we can't recover the sequence," Gilbert said.
The missing genes from the Christmas Island rat were connected to their sense of smell and immune functions. Therefore, if they were able to bring back the rat it could "lack attributes likely critical to surviving in its natural or natural-like environment," according to the study.
Ross MacPhee, co-author of the study and senior curator at the American Museum of Natural History, discussed the impact bringing a species back from extinction could have.
"The science of de-extinction is fantastically interesting, but the proposition that we've lost species and so we'll just bring them back is not thinking it through with respect to animal welfare," MacPhee said.
He added that if the gene editing technology is capable of resurrecting species then it should be focused on saving other animals like the California condor. Although, he made it clear that even if the science is possible, that these species will still face difficulties to survive.
"There are situations where you'd dearly love a species to do better, but we also need to recognize that it's what people have done to the environment that has limited the opportunities for these species to have any kind of decent life," MacPhee said.
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