The Mammoth Revival project is ready to start work
A molecular laboratory for the study of mammoths will be opened in Yakutsk
Galina Mozolevskaya, YASIAThe International Center for Collective Use of Molecular Paleontology will open in September this year in Yakutsk.
This was announced by the chief researcher of the Mammoth Museum of the Institute of Applied Ecology of the North, Semyon Grigoriev, during a press conference dedicated to the results of the complex expedition "The Search for the last giant of the Arctic".
According to Grigoriev, it will be a scientific and educational center on the basis of the P. Lazarev Mammoth Museum, where Yakut scientists, their foreign and Russian colleagues will work, and students of the Northeastern Federal University will also be able to study and train.
The new center will conduct genetic studies of the found paleontological material, mainly the study of mammoth cells within the framework of a joint project of the Northeastern Federal University and the South Korean Center for Biotechnological Research SOAM "The Revival of the Mammoth". The multimillion-dollar equipment for the Collective Use Center was purchased by Korean partners, it is currently being installed in a specially prepared room, and as soon as it is completed, the center will begin its work.
"The main task of the laboratory is the molecular study of mammoth cells under the project "Mammoth Revival". Last year, an employee of the Mammoth Museum completed an internship on cloning methods in South Korea, plus we equipped the laboratory with genetic equipment. We have geneticists, so we will be able to conduct genetic research on our own," said Semyon Grigoriev, adding that today genetic research is at the forefront of paleontological science.
According to the scientist, the opening of such a center will fill an empty niche in the field of animal genetic research in the republic, and will also significantly facilitate the life of foreign colleagues who come to Yakutia to study mammoth fauna.
"The biggest problem for foreign colleagues is to take out the material. You need a license, which sometimes you have to wait for six months. The Collective Access Center will allow them to do primary research here in Yakutia. This will make life easier for them and us in many ways. In the future, we want to include a commercial component and conduct custom research. At the moment, there is no genetic laboratory in the republic that would study the DNA of animals not only ancient, but also modern. If necessary, we could conduct similar studies for the Institute of Biological Problems of the Cryolithozone, for example," he said.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru20.08.2014