Woolly Mammoth De-Extinction: Scientists Bringing Extinct Animal From Unearthed Specimens Sample, Modern Asian Elephants

Extinct species can be brought back, as that's what experts are trying to accomplish for the long-gone woolly mammoth. Scientists are targeting to bring back the first woolly mammoth in five years.

Woolly Mammoth De-Extinction

About 4,000 years ago, the last woolly mammoths went extinct. However, experts from Colossal Bioscience are planning to de-extinct the woolly mammoth in five years.

An increasing number of woolly mammoth remains, particularly those whose skin and fur have clung on for all these years, are being revealed and excavated due to permafrost melting in the Arctic Circle. These specimens provide the required genetic material.

Colossal Biosciences researchers are working to reconstruct the woolly mammoth's genome by utilizing samples from recently discovered specimens and modern Asian elephant DNA to fill in the blanks. They intend to rebuild the woolly mammoth's genetic code, then transfer it into Asian elephant donor eggs, fertilize the resulting embryos in vitro, and implant the resulting offspring into surrogates.

Finding political and tribal allies ready to allow the corporation to release - or "re-wild" - woolly mammoths into their territory is one of their challenges, along with convincing woolly mammoth embryos into surrogate elephants.

This is not as far-fetched as it may seem, as 99.6% of the genomes of the two species are shared.

The world could see the birth of the first woolly mammoth of the 21st century by an Asian elephant by 2028.

"It is a very charismatic creature. We should be so lucky that 10,000 years from now, people love us as much as we love mammoths," said Colossal CEO and co-founder Ben Lamm.

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De-Extinction Program

Scientists have planned to bring back several extinct species, not just the woolly mammoths. Among the extinct species they want to get around are the Tasmanian tiger of Australia, which vanished 3,000 years ago, and the dodo, which was extinct in 1662. The experts are also attempting to revive the Aurochs (1600), Pyrenean ibex (2000), Southern gastric-brooding frog (1983), and the Christmas rat, which became extinct between 1898 and 1908.

The ambitious project will bring back the extinct beasts that didn't survive millions of years ago by using stem cell technology, cloning, or breeding.

Breeding back is a type of artificial selection that involves purposefully selectively breeding domestic animals, though not only domestic animals, to produce a breed with a trait similar to an extinct wild progenitor.

In terms of phenotype, ecological niche, and even genetics, a breeding-back breed might bear some resemblance to an extinct wild type; nonetheless, the extinct wild type's gene pool was distinct. A bred-back animal's legitimacy, even on the surface, depends on the particular stock that gave rise to the new lineage. According to the literature, some varieties, like Heck cattle, bear only a passing similarity to the extinct wild-type aurochs.

On the other hand, cloning creates genetically identical duplicates of the plant or animal by utilizing the organisms' DNA. Artificial cloning comes in three types: gene, reproductive, and therapeutic.

Genes or sections of DNA can be duplicated using gene cloning. Upon successful reproductive cloning, entire animals are replicated. Embryonic cells are created by therapeutic cloning to replace damaged or unhealthy tissues.