An extinct rat shows CRISPR’s limits for resurrecting species
Even a few missing genes in animals’ re-created genomes could be a problem, a study suggests
![illustration of a brown Christmas Island rat with tufts of grass](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/030822_AG_de-extinct_feat.jpg?fit=1030%2C580&ssl=1)
The Christmas Island rat (illustrated) went extinct in the early 1900s. Editing the genome of a living relative of the rat could create something that looks like the extinct rodent, but it would lack some important genes, a study finds.
Joseph Smit, Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1887