14 DAY TRIAL // Last week, scientists recovered bone tissue samples from the corpse of a woolly mammoth that lived and died about 28,000 to 40,000 years back and whose remains were found and dug out from the Siberian permafrost in May 2003.
Of the bone tissue samples extracted from the millennia-old woolly mammoth carcass, some were entrusted to specialists at laboratories in South Korea and Russia. Others were placed in the custody of researchers in the US.
The scientists who got these samples hope to extract DNA from them and eventually find a way to use this genetic material to bring woolly mammoths back to life. The thing is that, as it turns out, a few other teams are trying to achieve the same thing.
Thus, specialists at Harvard University in Massachusetts, US, claim to have inserted woolly mammoth genetic material into elephant cells. Otherwise put, they claim to have engineered elephant cells containing mammoth DNA.
Admittedly, a few hybrid cells in a Petri dish are a far cry from an actual living and breathing woolly mammoth. Still, researcher George Church and colleagues say that their work is a crucial first step when it comes to resurrecting this extinct species.
So, how did they do it?
As explained by Harvard University scientist George Church, the team started by studying bits and pieces of DNA recovered from woolly mammoths pulled from the Arctic permafrost over the years.
The researchers focused on identifying the genes that gave woolly mammoths their most distinct traits, i.e. hairiness, a thick coat of fur covering their body, and lots of body fat to keep them warm.
Having zoomed in on about a dozen and a half such genes, the specialists created synthetic replicas of them, which they then added to the genetic profile of living cells obtained from present-day elephants.
“We now have functioning elephant cells with mammoth DNA in them,” Harvard University scientist George Church summed up the outcome of these experiments, as cited by Science Alert.
The genetic engineering technique used to fit mammoth DNA into living elephant cells is known as CRISPR/Cas9. This technique makes it possible to cut DNA sequences and alter their makeup.
What's next on the agenda?
The Harvard University specialists behind this research project are yet to announce plans to go the extra mile and try to clone a woolly mammoth or at the very least create a quite possibly weird-looking mammoth-like elephant.
Now that they know how to add mammoth DNA to cells belonging to other species, engineering an elephant with mammoth traits is, at least in theory, perfectly possible. All the researchers would have to do would be to insert mammoth genes into an elephant egg and then watch it grow.
Then again, it's not like if George Church and his team don't do it, we'll have to wait a long time for somebody to pull such a stunt. As mentioned, experiments with DNA recovered from long-dead woolly mammoths are all the craze these days, and cloning the species is a goal many are working towards.