Message #104125

[Bianca]

                 

                   ISABELA ISLAND









Long Shot



Michel Milinkovitch is a tortoise expert at the University of Geneva in Switzerland who was not involved with the new study. He called it a nice demonstration of the use of molecular markers to unravel historical information.

"Theoretically, it would be possible to regenerate a pure Floreana genome, but it would require many generations of controlled breeding and the use of many molecular markers to guide/assist this breeding," Milinkovitch wrote in an email.

"It would obviously be easier with mice than giant tortoises, unfortunately."

Caccone agrees that such a breeding program will be tough, but she says she's eager to try.

In December, she and other researchers will team up with Galápagos National Park rangers to canvass the Volcano Wolf population—thought to number between 1,000 and 8,000—for blood samples. They'll put unique transmitters on each individual, so they have a way to find and recapture the ones that reveal hidden Floreana genes.

Caccone said she's excited about the possibility of bringing back one of the world's missing animals.

"This is the first case in which we could bring back from extinction a species that is gone," she said.