Scientists from Harvard University made a sensational statement. They plan to recreate some species of extinct animals. The first candidate for resurrection is the woolly mammoth. The researchers promise to present his hybrid embryo in the very near future. Waiting for him in line: a marsupial wolf, a cave lion, an Atlantic gray whale and wandering pigeons. Is it really in the near future that we will be able to see with our own eyes the mammals that inhabited our planet thousands of years ago? Will they be able to find their place in the modern world?
The first mammoths appeared about 5 million years ago. According to researchers, the cause of their extinction was the extermination of the species by humans. Today, people are ready to make amends to these giants. A group of Harvard scientists plans to resurrect extinct animals.
Scientists use DNA extracted from giant hairballs. Wool was found in Siberia. It belonged to a mammoth that lived about 10 thousand years ago, according to the DNA preserved in the permafrost, scientists recreated the genome of an ancient animal and then inserted them into the cells of the mammoth's closest relatives - Indian elephants.
However, the resulting animal is unlikely to become an exact copy of the prehistoric species. It will be a hybrid of the modern Indian elephant with some of the hallmarks of an extinct species. To date, scientists have made 45 corrections to the genome of a modern animal. If the experiment is successful, it will not only allow people to see a creature close to the prehistoric species, but also help expand the habitat of the southern breeds of elephants.
The population of Asian elephants is shrinking, if development can expand their habitat and teach them how to live in colder climates, then this will be a breakthrough.
However, not all scientists are so optimistic. Such experiments cost millions of dollars and some experts believe that this money would be much more expedient to spend on the conservation of those species that are now under threat of extinction.
You need to understand which endangered animals need to be helped, and which nothing will help.
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Nevertheless, gene editing is a breakthrough in science. Perhaps thanks to him, scientists will soon be able to change the genetics of the human body, in other words, they will “cut” and “glue” DNA replacing small fragments like a film strip, and such changes can become the key to the treatment of many hereditary diseases.