Mammoth cloning: not soon, but possible
Biologists from the University of Pennsylvania have identified an almost complete sequence of the mammoth genome, according to the university's website. The genetic material was obtained from a wool sample of two mammoths aged 20 and 60 thousand years, found in Siberia.
In total, scientists have determined the sequence of about four billion nucleotides of the "elementary" bricks" that make up DNA. However, they believe that mammoths "own" about 3.3 billion nucleotides, and the rest are the result of contamination of the sample with the genetic material of fungi and bacteria.
The researchers made an assumption about the true size of the mammoth genome based on information obtained as a result of rough determination of the DNA sequence of the African elephant. It was held at the Broad Institute, which is part of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Based on the available data, the researchers were able to draw some conclusions about the genetic characteristics of ancient hairy elephants. In particular, they concluded that mammoth populations were characterized by extremely low genetic diversity. That is, the genomes of individual individuals were very similar and carried a small number of gene variants. Scientists believe that this feature of mammoths could cause their extinction when environmental conditions change.
Earlier, biologists determined the sequence of mammoth mitochondrial DNA, that is, DNA contained not in the nucleus, but in a cellular organelle called mitochondria. Only 13 mammoth genes are encoded in mitochondrial DNA. At the same time, the total number of genes in these animals is about 20 thousand. Thus, knowledge of the genomic DNA sequence allows you to learn much more about the living being being studied. You can read more about the use of genomic and mitochondrial DNA to determine the characteristics of extinct animals here.
With mammoth DNA in their hands, scientists can try to restore this species by placing the genetic material of an ancient animal in the egg of a modern elephant. According to some estimates, the cost of this project will be about $ 10 million. Nevertheless, it is unlikely to expect the birth of a mammoth in the near future, since a number of technical difficulties must be overcome to implement this ambitious project.