Study shows how gene editing can bring extinct rats back to life

Ever since the movie Jurassic Park, the idea of bringing extinct animals back to life has captured the public's imagination -- but what might scientists turn their attention towards first?

Instead of focusing on iconic species like the woolly mammoth or the Tasmanian tiger, a team of paleogeneticists have studied how, using gene editing, they could resurrect the humble Christmas Island rat, which died out around 120 years ago.

Though they did not follow through and create a living specimen, they say their paper, published in Current Biology on Wednesday, demonstrates just how close scientists working on de-extinction projects could actually get using current technology.