Resurrecting the mighty

In an attempt to figure out why the mammoth became extinct over 10,000 years ago, an international group of scientists aim to bring the giant species back to life.

The researchers – from Japan, Russia and the United States – have obtained tissue from the carcass of a mammoth preserved in a Russian mammoth laboratory and will attempt to resurrect the species using cloning technologies. They have already established a technique to extract DNA from frozen cells.

“Preparations to realise this goal have been made,” said Professor Akira Iritani, team leader and professor emeritus of Kyoto University.

Iritani and his team hope to extract the nuclei of mammoth cells and insert them into an elephant’s egg cells from which the nuclei have been removed to create an embryo containing mammoth genes.

The embryo will be inserted into an African elephant’s womb in the hope that the animal will give birth to a baby mammoth.

The eggs have been donated from deceased female zoo elephants. Iritani’s team devised a technique to extract the nuclei of eggs – only 2 to 3% of which are in good condition – without damaging them.

“If a cloned embryo can be created, we need to discuss, before transplanting it into the womb, how to breed the mammoth and whether to display it to the public,” Iritani said. “After the mammoth is born, we’ll examine its ecology and genes to study why the species became extinct and other factors.”

If all goes to plan, the researchers hope the mammoth could be reborn in five to six years.