Washington – Filmmaker Peter Jackson owns one of the largest private bones of an extinct New Zealand bird (The Moa). His fascination with the flying-free ostrich bird led to unusual partnerships with a biotech company known for its grand and controversial plans to bring back the lost species.
On Tuesday, Huge Bioscience announced efforts to work to genetically engineer birds to resemble the extinct South Island giant MOA (once 12 feet (3.6 meters) tall), with Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh providing $15 million in funding. The collaboration also includes the Ngāitahu Research Centre headquartered in New Zealand.
“Movies are my daily routine, and Moa is something that makes me interesting,” Jackson said. “Every New Zealand primary school student is fascinated by MOA.”
The idea of bringing extinct species back to modern landscapes may be impossible, although it may be feasible to adjust the genes of active animals with similar physical characteristics, outside scientists say. Scientists have different opinions on whether this will help, and some fear that focusing on lost organisms will be distracted from protecting species that still exist.
The MOA roamed New Zealand for 4,000 years until it became extinct about 600 years ago, mainly due to overhunting. A large skeleton brought to England in the 19th century and is now on display at the Yorkshire Museum, igniting international interest in the long-necked bird.
Unlike the cooperation between Giants and Wolf Wolf, the MOA project is in a very early stage. About two years ago, Jackson heard about the company’s efforts to “de-extinction” or create genetically similar animals such as wool mammoths and terrifying wolfs, which began with a call about two years ago.
Jackson then maintained a huge connection with the experts he met through his MOA bone collection. He said he had accumulated 300 to 400 bones by then.
In New Zealand, it is legal to buy and sell MOA bones on private land, but not in public protected areas – nor are they exported.
The first phase of the MOA project will be to identify well-preserved bones from which DNA may be extracted.
She said these DNA sequences will be compared to the genomes of live bird species, including ground tinamou and emu, “Find out what makes MOA unique compared to other birds,” she said.
The huge process uses similar processes to compare the ancient DNA of extinct wolf wolf to determine the genetic differences between gray wolf. The scientists then took blood cells from the alive gray wolf and used CRISPR to perform genetic modifications at 20 different locations. At the end of last year, the cubs had white hair and muscle jaws.
Shapiro said working with birds presents different challenges.
Unlike mammals, bird embryos develop within eggs, so the process of transferring embryos to surrogates does not look like mammalian IVF.
“Any species we choose needs to overcome many different scientific obstacles,” Shapiro said. “We are in a very early stage.”
If a huge team succeeds in creating a tall bird with huge feet and thick claws, there is also a pressing question of where to ask the question, says Duke University ecologist Stuart Pimm.
“Once a species is extinct, can you put one back in the wild?” he said. “I don’t think they’re likely to do this in any meaningful way.”
“It will be an extremely dangerous animal,” PIMM added.
The direction of the project will be shaped by Maori scholars from the Ngāitahu Research Centre of the University of Canterbury. The work “really revitalizes interest in studying our own traditions and myths,” said Ngāitahu archaeologist Kyle Davis, an expert at MOA Bones.
On Jackson and Davis visit an archaeological site that studies the remains of MOA, called the Pyramid Valley, and the antique rock art of the Maori – some depicted MOA before extinction.
Paul Scofield, a natural history consultant and senior curator at Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, New Zealand, said he first met the director of the Lord of the Rings director when he went to his home to help him with his identity, with representatives of various bones in nine known MOAs.
“He not only collected some MOA bones — he had a comprehensive collection,” Schofield said.
___
The Associated Press Department of Health and Science has received support from the Science and Education Media Group at Howard Hughes Medical School and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. AP is responsible for all content.
