Scientists about to bring extinct species of Rheobarachus frog back to life

If you know about frogs then you will be aware of a frog species called the Rheobarachus or the gastric-brooding frog. This is a kind of frog that went extinct back in 1983. It was discovered back in 1972 and became popular due to its ability of giving birth to its off springs from mouth.

Most frogs as you know lay eggs which then eventually become frogs but the Rheobarachus had a different way of giving birth. It used to lay the eggs after which it used to swallow the eggs and then hatch them in her belly, allow the offspring to live as tadpoles in here stomach and after six weeks vomit them out of her mouth. The frog stopped producing acid in her stop during this process. Now scientists are on the verge of reproducing this extinct frog by using sample tissues which have been kept in a freezer all these years.

A scientists named Mike Archer from the University of New South Wales is working on the project of cloning this extinct species and reproduce it to bring it to earth once again. Archer is doing so by injecting the DNA of the frog into other frog’s eggs. His research which is groundbreaking by all means is in early stages but shows a lot of potential for the future.

This is not the only example of scientist working on bringing extinct organisms back to life. Many other scientists are working on similar projects.

The researcher behind this project when asked revealed that he is doing it for a particular reason and that is, “If we were responsible for the extinction of the species, deliberately or inadvertently, we have a moral responsibility or imperative to undo that if we can.”

His research still has a long way to go and one big hurdle in his way is to make the female capable of stop producing stomach acids while she is pregnant just like the original Rheobarachus frog.