Woolly mammoth to be brought back to life from cloned bone marrow 'within five years'
- Thigh bone discovered in permafrost soil of Siberia
- Contains elusive undamaged genes essential for nucleus transplantation
- Nuclei of elephant's egg cells will be replaced with mammoth's marrow DNA
- Embryo will then be planted into elephant womb for gestation
Last updated at 7:45 PM on 3rd December 2011
Scientists believe it may be possible to clone a woolly mammoth within five years after finding well-preserved bone marrow in a thigh bone recovered from permafrost soil in Siberia.
Teams from Russia's Sakha Republic's mammoth museum and Japan's Kinki University will launch fully-fledged joint research next year aiming to recreate the giant mammal, Japan's Kyodo News reported from Yakutsk, Russia.
By replacing the nuclei of egg cells from an elephant with those taken from the mammoth's marrow cells, embryos with mammoth DNA can be produced, Kyodo said, citing the researchers.
Clone hope: The discovery of marrow inside the thigh bone of a woolly mammoth in Siberia has led scientists to believe they can bring the species back to life
Exciting: Mammoth bones like this one have been dug up many times before, but finding one with undamaged genes has proven a challenge (file picture)
The scientists will then plant the embryos into elephant wombs for delivery as the two species are close relatives, the report said.
Securing nuclei with an undamaged gene is essential for the nucleus transplantation technique, it said.
For scientists involved in the research since the late 1990s, finding nuclei with undamaged mammoth genes has been a challenge.
Fertile land: The thigh bone was discovered in the permafrost soil of Siberia as were these tusks which came from an entire 23,000-year-old mammoth dug up in 1999
Mammoths became extinct about 10,000 years ago.
But the discovery in August in Siberia has increased the chances of a successful cloning.
Global warming has thawed ground in eastern Russia that is usually almost permanently frozen, leading to the discoveries of a number of frozen mammoths, the report said.
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Mammoth burgers coming to a ''get fat' takeaway near you soon!! -
- Jeff Richardson, Expat and UK taxpayer - France, 04/12/2011 22:37
Can see it at a burger joint 20 yrs from now..."Try our Mammoth Burgers...mammoth in size and content"...any wagers?
- N. Waters, Ontario, Canada, 04/12/2011 22:29
Mammoth burgers on your fast food menus!
- J. McLean, Glasgow, 04/12/2011 22:22
For those of us that are going to heaven, we will see them all and more. Why was Noah told to build the Ark?
- UKIP Member N.Ireland, GB. (Used to be), 04/12/2011 21:47
P.S. to my previous post - the title of the book for anyone interested is "Atlantis, the Deluge and the End of the Ice Age".
- a reader, commenting, 04/12/2011 20:39
Philip Kennedy, County Antrim -- Are you for real? Don't you know the story or Noah is STOLEN from an ancient story about a guy called Gilgamesh? The bible is NOT the source you have been led to believe my friend. Wake up and smell the science... - Norm De Plume, Hitchin, 4/12/2011 20:01-----I often see this word 'stolen' mentioned when it comes to the flood. It wasn't stolen, but perpetuated, for our benefit. The same story of Noah and the flood can be found in sources as diverse as Hindu mythology to the Aztecs of South America, who believed they actually came from a large island/continent in the Atlantic. Same story, with drawings of a Noah type individual rowing a boat... Myself, I feel there could be truth to the legend of Atlantis, which, according to some, sunk about ten/eleven thousand years ago. A short book by Zarin linking the great flood with the sinking of Atlantis can be found online; I think it's an interesting read.
- a reader, commenting, 04/12/2011 20:29
Awesome! bring back velociraptor next! hehe
- tanned boy, Rio de Janeiro - London, 04/12/2011 20:26
It will never be 100% mammoth as they were, because it will be grown in an elephant. In order for it to truely be a mammoth, it needs to grow inside a mammoth. So it's more of a mammoth/elephant hybrid. Oh and it wasn't 10,000 years ago that they became extinct - that part is also incorrect.
- Steve, Kent, 04/12/2011 20:21
Once strong AI becomes available, I'm going to link it with my Sony BioDesigner and pump out thousands of new life forms every fortnight. Should be interesting, while we last.
- PacRim Jim, California, USA, 04/12/2011 20:19
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Really fantastic, perhaps Jurassic Park may still be a possibility after all, naturally, we all want to see a real live dinosaur right? :)
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