Scientists hoping to bring back the Tasmanian Tiger believe they’re getting closer to succeeding.

The last living thylacine died in captivity in 1936.

The ‘de-extinction’ project combines the DNA of a Tasmanian Tiger with the genetics of one of its closest relatives – a fat-tailed dunnart.

Australian acting superstar Chris Hemsworth is also backing the science.

Bioethics Lecturer at Monash University Dr Julian Koplin explained to Deborah Knight how it would work.

“You would be taking the cells of living species with similar DNA to the Tasmanian Tiger then you use gene editing … to change the bits of that animal’s DNA … to make it like a Tasmanian Tiger and find a way to gestate the embryo,” he said.

“You would end up with this hybrid creature … that would quite closely resemble a Tasmanian Tiger.”

Press PLAY below to hear how the plan could work

Image: Getty