SCIENTISTS have taken a major step towards recreating the woolly mammoth after inserting 14 of the extinct animal’s genes into the live DNA of an elephant.
In the research the scientists analysed DNA from mammoths preserved in Arctic permafrost to find its structure, then used the results to reproduce exact copies of 14 mammoth genes. These were integrated into the elephant genome, where they functioned as normal DNA.
George Church, professor of genetics at Harvard University, used a new technique known as Crispr that allows scientists to make precision edits to DNA, replacing sections of elephant DNA with the mammoth genes.
“We prioritised genes associated with cold resistance including hairiness, ear size, subcutaneous fat and, especially, haemoglobin [the blood molecule that carries oxygen around the