It died out around 8,000 years ago…but in just five years the woolly mammoth could soon be walking the Earth again. Japanese scientists are behind an ambitious project to bring the long-extinct mammal back from the dead. The revival requires a sample of intact DNA for cloning purposes and an elephant to act as surrogate mother, donating an egg and her womb. Taking into account the 600 or so days needed for the pregnancy, the first baby mammoths of the modern age could be born in four to five years. In recent years, scientists have used samples of hair frozen in the Siberian ice for thousands of years to piece together the mammoth’s genetic code. And DNA preserved in bone has been used to recreate the prehistoric giant’s blood. But the latest project is far more ambitious. The Kyoto University researchers are planning an expedition to the Siberian permafrost this summer in search of a flash-frozen specimen still rich in DNA. Other options include taking a sample of skin or tissue from a carcass already in a research collection, Japanese newpaper Yomiuri Shimbun reports. (Daily Mail)
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Will the woolly mammoth be lumbering back? Japanese scientists 'to resurrect extinct giant from frozen DNA within five years'
It died out around 8,000 years ago…but in just five years the woolly mammoth could soon be walking the Earth again. Japanese scientists are behind an ambitious project to bring the long-extinct mammal back from the dead. The revival requires a sample of intact DNA for cloning purposes and an elephant to act as surrogate mother, donating an egg and her womb. Taking into account the 600 or so days needed for the pregnancy, the first baby mammoths of the modern age could be born in four to five years. In recent years, scientists have used samples of hair frozen in the Siberian ice for thousands of years to piece together the mammoth’s genetic code. And DNA preserved in bone has been used to recreate the prehistoric giant’s blood. But the latest project is far more ambitious. The Kyoto University researchers are planning an expedition to the Siberian permafrost this summer in search of a flash-frozen specimen still rich in DNA. Other options include taking a sample of skin or tissue from a carcass already in a research collection, Japanese newpaper Yomiuri Shimbun reports. (Daily Mail)