A new company with wild work: to return mammoth wool

At the time, scientists were learning how to reconstruct the genes of extinct organisms based on DNA fragments derived from fossils. Identify the genetic differences that distinguish ancient organisms from their modern relatives, and begin to look at how these differences in DNA led to differences in their bodies.

Dr. Church, who discovered methods for studying and modifying DNA, wondered if it could effectively revive endangered species by rewriting the genes of a living relative. Since there is a common ancestor to Asian elephants and mummies that lived about six million years ago, Dr. Churchill thought that the elephant genome could create something that looks and acts like a mammoth.

In addition to scientific interest, he said, wool mummies can help the environment. Today, the tundra in Siberia and North America warms up as animals graze rapidly and release carbon dioxide. “The answer is theoretically,” Dr. Church argued.

Algae today are dominated by tundra. But when the mummies were woolly, they were mostly grass. Some scientists have argued that woolly mummies are environmental engineers who maintain lawns by breaking down algae, cutting down trees and composting their waste.

Russian ecologists import wildebeest and other species into a forest in Siberia Pleistocene ParkI hope to return the tundra to the grasslands. Dr. Church argued that a revived mammoth could do it very effectively. According to him, the restored lawns will prevent thawing and soil erosion and prevent carbon dioxide from catching heat.

Dr. He attracted a lot of churches Attention From Newspaper However, the small fund provided by co-founder PayPal exceeded $ 100,000 Peter Thiel. Dr. Laboratory Church was directed to other, better funded studies by Mamat Research. “These tools can be used for many purposes, whether it is the destruction or re-coding of the human gene,” Dr. Hezoli said.

Dr. Hezoli and his colleagues analyzed the genes of woolly mummies collected from fossils and compiled a list of the most important differences between animals and elephants. They focused on the 60 genes that their experiments suggest for enormous features such as the high-domed skull of hair, fat and wool mummies.