Russian scientists and geologists conducted an expedition to the Lyakhovsky Islands, during which they discovered a mammoth skin. It can be used for an ambitious project to clone ancient animals.
Yakut researchers found the skin and other remains of a mammoth in the lower reaches of the Yana River. The Northern Oykumena expedition was organized in August with the assistance of the Russian Geographical Society and with the participation of specialists from five countries.
Mammoth skin found on Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island
“The Lyakhov Islands are considered the center of the mammoth continent. Here is the largest concentration of mammoth remains in the world, so we chose this area for pinpoint research,”says Semyon Grigoriev, head of the expedition, director of the Mammoth Museum in Yakutsk.
According to Korean experts, who are also working on the project, it is the skin that is best suited for cloning by isolating viable cells, according to the website of the North-Eastern Federal University.
Also during the expedition, the tusk of a dwarf mammoth, an embryonic tooth of an unborn baby mammoth, and a tooth of a trogontery mammoth were found.
Earlier, the media reported that a laboratory was opened in Yakutsk, where they will conduct experiments on cloning extinct animals. Mammoth DNA is planned to be transplanted into elephant cells and create a hybrid animal.
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