Happy Nice Mall

At the time, researchers were learning how to reconstruct the genomes of extinct species based on fragments of DNA from fossils. It was possible to identify the genetic differences that separated ancient species from their modern cousins ​​and begin to understand how these differences in DNA produced differences in their bodies.

Known for inventing methods of reading and editing DNA, Dr. Church wondered if a living relative could effectively revive an extinct species by rewriting its genes. Because Asian elephants and mammoths share a common ancestor that lived about six million years ago, Dr. Church thought it might be possible to modify an elephant’s genome to produce something that would look and act like a mammoth.

Beyond scientific curiosity, he argued that reanimated woolly mammoths could help the environment. Today, the tundra of Siberia and North America, where animals once grazed, is warming rapidly and releasing carbon dioxide. Dr. “Mammoths are hypothetically a solution to this,” Church said in his speech.

Today the tundra is dominated by moss. But when woolly mammoths were around, it was largely grazing. Some researchers have argued that woolly mammoths were ecosystem engineers, protecting grasslands by breaking down algae, felling trees, and providing fertilizer with their excrement.

Russian ecologists have placed bison and other species under protection in Siberia. Pleistocene Parkin hopes of returning the tundra to grassland. Dr. Church argued that resurrected woolly mammoths could do this more efficiently. He argued that restored grassland would prevent the soil from melting and eroding, and could even trap heat-trapping carbon dioxide.

Dr. Church’s proposal caught the attention of many. Caution from print but few funds beyond $100,000 from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. Dr. Church’s lab shouldered the massive research on other, better-funded experiments. Dr. “This toolkit can be used for many purposes, such as extinction or recoding of the human genome,” Hysolli said. Said.

Dr. By analyzing the genomes of woolly mammoths collected from fossils, Hysolli and colleagues compiled a list of the most important differences between animals and elephants. They reset 60 genes that their experiments suggested were important for mammoth distinguishing features, such as hair, fat, and the woolly mammoth’s distinctively high-domed skull.