Invited Presentation ABNA - Biobanking: Shaping the Future Together

Preservation and restoration of Australia’s wildlife; indigenous engagement and consent (#12)

Andrew Pask 1
  1. University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

Australia has the highest rate of mammal extinctions for any country in the world. We are also host to some of the most unique mammal species – namely our marsupials. The primary objective of our research is to increase tools for marsupials in our conservation toolkit to ensure their conservation, preservation and even restoration (including deextinction) of cornerstone species. Here I will discuss our recent work on the thylacine deextinction project, genetic fortification in the Northen quoll, development of marsupial stem cell technologies, advances in marsupial assisted reproductive technologies and biobanking – and the work we are doing around indigenous engagement and consent with these bold projects.