Scientists Reconstruct Wooly Mammoth's Genetic Code

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Facts

  • Using the frozen carcass of a 52K-year-old wooly mammoth found in the Siberian permafrost, scientists have been able to reconstruct the entire genetic code of the ancient animal by using the still-intact, three-dimensional chromosomes of its skin.1
  • Previously, the old way of extracting DNA from fossils, according to a geneticist who reviewed the study, only produced 'short fragments' of a 'four-letter molecular alphabet,' which is A (adenine), G (guanine), C (cytosine), T (thymine).2
  • Animal DNA molecules typically break apart after death, but this sample was freeze-dried by the permafrost and dehydrated by the dry Siberian climate. Because of this, the team discovered 28 chromosome pairs — the same as the mammoth's closest relatives, Asian and African elephants.3
  • Scientists were able to decode the DNA through a process called Hi-C, which allows scientists to not only see all the genetic information but put it in order. The sequencing led to slight chromosomal differences, distinguishing the mammoth from an elephant.2
  • Researchers now want to test other ancient specimens under dry climates, including lifeforms that lived as long ago as 2M years.3
  • This discovery may also help companies such as Colossal Biosciences — which had no part in the research but hosts three researchers on its advisory board — in their goal of de-extinction. Colossal says it wants to bring the wooly mammoth, Tasmanian tiger, and the dodo bird back to life.2

Sources: 1Guardian, 2New York Times and 3Scientific American.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Singularity Hub. Now that we know that dehydrated fossils can be turned into near-perfect DNA replicas, scientists may be able to do the same for ancient Egyptian mummies or other long-lost animals. Given time, this information may also lead to the revival of extinct animals, or at the very least ones similar to those of ancient times.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Cambridge Core. While novel genome sequencing technology provides incredible insight into the evolution and history of animals, that doesn't mean they can be completely de-extinct. Using a modern-day elephant to produce some sort of reincarnated wooly mammoth may be possible, but that would bring up ethical issues surrounding using animals for such experiments.

Predictions