A World Without Koalas - Dr. Rebecca Johnson

Koalas are cute marsupials that are found only on the Australian continent, that are "vulnerable" to extinction, but not entirely endangered. The Australian Museum's Centre for Wildlife Genomics team manager Dr. Rebecca Johnson sequenced the koala's genome to better understand the biological threats facing koalas, which include chlamydia and a newly discovered koala retrovirus that can be passed genetically, from mother to baby, as well as socially from koalas who simply interact on a eucalyptus branch. Dr. Johnson points to the koala's genetic diversity as reason to be optimistic for their ongoing survival and vows to continue to work to unlock the secrets in their DNA, "because I don't think anybody can imagine a world without koalas."