TRANSCRIPT
Australia holds the unenviable title of world leader for mammal extinctions.
But in the middle of Melbourne, a frozen zoo could be a lifeline for wildlife species around the country.
Researchers from Museums Victoria and Melbourne University have started to collect tissue samples from 100 threatened Australian species.
Professor Andrew Pask is one of the project leaders.
"So we're able to go out and actually sample tissues from animals that are existing in the wild now. We grow cells from those animals and then we freeze them down in these tanks, and that holds those cells in suspended animation indefinitely. So, once you've got those living cells and you've got that material we can then actually go back and use those cells to recreate those species if they get lost in a catastrophic weather event like a major bushfire or a flood, we actually have a way of capturing those animals and then bringing that diversity or those species back."
The endangered Smoky Mouse, and critically endangered Grassland Earless Dragon are two species with cells already on ice.
Dr Joanna Sumner from the Museums Victoria Research Institute describes the three-year project as a minus-196-degree 'living bio bank'.
"This is one of the best places to do it. This is where the research is happening, this is where the wildlife is. Australia has one of the worst records of species loss, so it's actually vital that we start doing this work now, that we preserve these species before they're lost, and we preserve the genetic diversity that is in the species now."
The new technology met with shock by Peta Bulling from the Australian Conservation Foundation.
"My first reaction to the bio-bank is thinking 'woah, are we in Jurassic Park?' But then when I take a minute and dig a little deeper, I think this is a really scary reflection of the state of crisis that we're in in Australia, that some of the best minds in Australia have come together and thought, 'hey, we need to create an insurance population of genetics because it looks like extinction's going to take hold really seriously, and we're going to lose some of the amazing wildlife that we have here'."
Peta Bulling says Australia is undergoing an extinction crisis, with more than 2,000 plants, animals and ecosystems on the national threatened species list.
She says as long as climate change and habitat destruction are the main threats to Australia's unique fauna and flora, the focus should be on preventing extinctions.
"I think that the biobank is definitely a tool in the toolbox that we can be using to protect nature in Australia, but it's definitely not the silver bullet to fix all of our problems. It doesn't protect what's really important and what's really on the line here. You're not protecting ecosystems, you're not protecting the spiritual and cultural connection that First Peoples have to the living environment so, I think it's definitely a tool and it's amazing that science can do this, but it's not the answer that we need."
Professor Andrew Pask is no stranger to this ambitious work.
He's long been involved in the Thylacine - or Tasmanian Tiger - de-exinction project.
Professor Pask says this project is different.
"We don't want to have to go through that scenario of recreating an animal because we've lost it. The way this works is we've actually preserved living cells from that animal so we don't have to recreate that species. We have them frozen down in a form that we can actually use to recreate those animals."
There are concerns bringing species back to life is akin to playing God, but both scientists and conservationists like Peta Bulling say it's necessary work.
"I think humans have been playing God when it comes to the environment for a really long time. We're at this critical juncture now where we actually need to start playing God but for good reasons."
Project leaders are looking to share the bio bank techniques with other research institutes around the country.
Their eventual aim for Australia's diverse wildlife - to make species loss a relic of the past.
