Bringing the Tasmanian tiger back from extinction is one of its most sensational projects, but now Colossal Biosciences has announced a new multi-million plan to stop new extinctions in Australia.
The US-based company is investing in Melbourne University’s scientists who are working to create a super-species of frogs that can withstand the effects of chytrid fungus.
While most people haven’t heard of the infectious disease, it’s directly caused six extinctions in Australia, more than any other species other than humans. And globally it’s led to the decline of over 500 amphibian species, including 90 extinctions.
How frogs will be altered so they can fight off chytrid
Leading the response to chytrid is the university’s Dr Andrew Pask, who will be using nanobodies found in camels and lamas to help fight the disease. While this may seem like an odd solution, they’re known to produce antibodies that bind to specific targets, and that’s made them already useful in the fight against cancer and Covid-19.
“These nanobodies would prevent the fungus from being able to bind to the skin, enter the skin, and then end that pathogenic cycle that ultimately leads to frog death. And it also blocks the lifecycle of chytrid — because if it can’t infect and then grow in the skin, it can’t release more spores,” he told Yahoo News.
“We’re really hoping this could be a nice silver bullet for actually inactivating chytrid fungus and actually give frogs immunity against it.”
Colossal is investing US $3 million to help amphibians beat the disease. Source: Colossal
Pask plans to develop a transgenic frog that can produce the nanobody. Once the solution has been developed, the same nanobody can be introduced into multiple species. Other than being able to resist chytrid, Pask says they’ll be “completely normal”.
“We want them to be in balance with the ecosystem. We don’t want to engineer them to be immune to everything, just this current pathogen that is a current threat to species survival,” he said.
“They’ve still got to survive the bloody cane toad invasion and all the other things in the environment.”
As the chytrid front continues to spread through the environment, frogs with edited genes will survive and spread immunity through the population, saving it from extinction. Corroboree frogs number only a few dozen individuals in the wild, so it would be prioritised, and other vulnerable species then be given the treatment.
Related: Aussie plan to genetically engineer new super species of wild animals
Colossal has announced the first US $1 million ($1.57 million) of its US $3m commitment to fighting chytridiomycosis disease at Pask Lab, which researches evolution, development and reproduction. The team is planning on delivering an effective strategy to combat the disease in just three years’ time, with the nanobody being introduced to multiple species.
“Time is really of the essence here. We want to get this done as quickly as possible,” Pask said.
A healthy spotted tree frog. Source: Colossal
A spotted tree frog infected with chytrid. Source: Colossal
Colossal investment could be single invention with widest impact on biodiversity
Colossal’s Chief Science Officer Beth Shapiro told Yahoo News the technology being trialled by the team hasn’t been tried before. “When we think about all the different challenges we have protecting biodiversity, we need to have our minds open to all the potential solutions that are out there. This is something that doesn’t exist yet,” she said.
“This is funding that’s going to develop something that could be completely revolutionary, really logistically change the way we think about dealing with pathogens… Do we know it’s gong to work? No. Should we be investing money as a solution for this? Absolutely.”
Related: Silent extinctions occurring unreported across Australia
Close-up of chytrid fungus under a microscope. Source: Colossal
While chytrid caused multiple extinctions in the 1990s as it rapidly spread around the globe, Colossal is concerned its persistence in the environment is now suppressing the recovery of frog species.
Speaking with Yahoo News, Chief Animal Officer Matt James said the virus has “hammered” Australia, but what most people don’t know is that it’s the most prevalent wildlife pathogen in the world.
“We have amazing partners at zoos that have captive breeding programs, just to release tadpoles back to the wild to keep the numbers up. But they understand it’s just a numbers game — chytrid is so ever-present in the habitat that as they throw those animals back to the wild, unfortunately, 90 per cent of those are being lost,” he said.
He added, “If you can create one solution that has the widest impact in the fight against biodiversity loss, I think chytrid represents that.”
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