Japanese scientists getting closer to cloning the mammoth
Japanese scientists are getting closer to bringing mammoths back to life. Cell nuclei taken from an animal extracted from the permafrost showed signs of activity after being transplanted into mouse eggs.
The idea of restoringócenia mammothóin to life is not new. Every few years you can read about more próbach of cloning this extinct species. This time the success was reported by the teamół Japanese scientistsów from Kindai University, Yakutia Republic Academy of the Sciences, Tokyo University of Agriculture and the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Ibaraki.
Researchers have managed to induce signs of activity in the comóMammoth rks frozen for 28,000 years. The scientists‘ worków open the way to decoding the biological information of ancient creatures.
The findings were published in the journal „Scientific Reports”.
In 2011, the remains of a female woolly mammoth were discovered in Siberia. The animal has been named Yuka. Mammoth died about 28,000 years ago, but its remains have been well preserved by permafrost. The analysis showed that the comórks of the mammoth still contained relatively undamaged structures.
Japanese researchers have taken próof bone marrow and Yuki muscle tissue and extracted from them the nuclei of comórkowe. These were then transferred to the comóegg sharks of mice, whichóre previously been stripped of their testicles. A total of 43 nuclei were transplanted into comómammoth cloning. Five of them have shown activity, whichóra involved a type of structural formation preceding the division of the comórki, although the division itself did not take place.
Kei Miyamoto, a study author from the Department of Genetic Engineering at Kindai University, said the research is „A significant step toward resurrecting mammothsów”. He admitted, however, that scientists still have a long way to go. – Com nucleiórkowe Yuki are too damaged to think about reproducing mammothsów – marked. He added, however, that there is a chance to do so if they could obtain better-preserved nuclei of the comórkowe.
Japanese teamół wspóhe teamed up with Russian scientists, whoóThe researchers will take próThey are trying to clone an extinct species using a technique known as cell nucleus transferórkowe. The same technique was used, for example, in the case of the famous Dolly the sheep.
„Our work provides a platform to assess testicular activity in extinct speciesóin animals” – reads the publication. „Ancient species carry invaluable information on the genetic basis of adaptive evolution and factoróin extinction-related”.
Mammoths last walked the Earth during the last ice age. They are thought to have become extinct about 10,000 years ago, although someóre isolated populations, as on Wrangel Island, could survive longer.
Why the species became extinct? Scientists present three most likely theories. The first of these mówi that these animals failed to adapt to climatic changes occurring during the turbulent period of the end of the Ice Age. Another mówi that the mammoths fell victim to some disease, whichóra decimated the species. These animals were eagerly hunted by our ancestors, so the option of human culling of the species is possible.
Mammoth remainsów were found in large areas of Asia, Europe and also America PóNorth. In 2012, a 200,000-300,000-year-old specimen was found at the site of one of Belchatow’s mines.
