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Jurassic Park comes true

8.14.09 - The woolly mammoth was the last species of the genus.

Most populations of the woolly mammoth in North America and Eurasia died out at the end of the last Ice Age.

Until recently, it was generally assumed that the last woolly mammoths vanished from Europe and Southern Siberia about 10,000 BC, but new findings show that some were still present there about 8,000 BC.

In May 2007, the carcass of a one-month-old female woolly mammoth calf was discovered in a layer of permafrost near the Yuribei River in Russia, where it had been buried for 37,000 years.

Since then research has come a very long way. In 2008 a team of Japanese scientists were able to produce healthy cloned mice from bodies frozen at -20 degree Celcius for 16 years. Also in 2008 Stephan C. Schuster and his team of scientists, who examined the mammoth baby, reported that they were able to sequence the nuclear genome of the extinct woolly mammoth.

With these two major milestones in the world of science the question on every scientists mind is: "Can we clone a Mammoth?"

The answer to the question is complex. There are several roadblocks that still need to be removed before it is really possible.

The mammoth genome has been sequenced by searching for matches to a set of elephant genes that could be confidently mapped to unique positions on human chromosomes, and by searching for the so-called ultraconserved regions. So far the total length of the true mammoth reads is 70% of the genome's length.

The remaining 30% still need to be read. In order to do that, the scientists need genome of very good condition. Unfortunately these are not easy to find since after the animal dies the genome dissolve very quickly.

Another challenge is that errors occur during the sequencing of the genome. The only way to find the errors is by sequencing it 10-15 times. But sequencing the genome is very expensive and time consuming.

Once the entire DNA sequence has been restored the next step is to create an artificial cell that includes the entire genome. This cell then has to be transplanted into an unfertilized artificial egg cell of an elephant. This also means that the cloned baby would not be a pure mammoth but a mix between elephant and mammoth.

Once the embryo has been created the next step is to get it inside of a female elephant that can carry the baby and give birth to it.

Each of the steps is combined with lots of complications. Artificial cells have only been created for bacteria. The cell of a mammoth is 8,000 times bigger.

To get the elephant mom pregnant is another complicated procedure and the pregnancy and birth come with additional complications.

However, sooner or later all of the complications can be overcome and we will be able to visit Mammoths in the zoo.

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Book of the Month

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Elizabeth Keller

Jurassic Park comes true

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Stepping into Science

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