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People keep asking scientists, when are we going to clone a mammoth? Look. We'll get
there when we get there. It's not the easiest thing in the world!
Hello to all you living beings out there, I'm Trace and you're watching DNews -- Extinction
happens. But it can really suck when an entire species just dies out. Then again, so can
bringing back extinct things ah-la, Jurassic Park...
If you haven't seen Jurassic Park // WHAT? Go watch it! It's a CLASSIC. // cloning is
used to bring dinosaurs back from the dead. Now, 20 years later, the technology is catching
up to the science fiction. We can CLONE EXTINCT THINGS! And in the Internet Age, the Woolly
Mammoth seems to be the popular choice...
The mammoth became extinct 4,000 years ago, but a 20-to-60-thousand-year-old tusk was
found in a construction pit in Seattle on Valentine's Day! Due to its similarity to
elephants, some scientists think we can use DNA from found parts to bring these bad boys
back to life. Though they sequenced the genome of the woolly mammoth back in 2008. but do
you see any wandering around? Nope. Because knowing the DNA structure isn't enough. Repairing
a damaged mammoth DNA strand using elephant DNA would be excruciatingly slow and it's
pretty near impossible to tuck all six feet of it into a microscopic cell nucleus. Last
year, a preserved mammoth carcass was discovered in Siberia -- frozen in the ice. While digging
it out, a mis-aimed ice pick nicked its skin and blood flowed out! So now scientists are
looking for an in-tact DNA-packed nucleus of one of those red blood cells.
If they get one then BINGO. MAMMOTH DNA. Then could use the same method used to clone Dolly
the sheep -- called somatic cell nuclear transfer. Basically, they replace the nucleus in an
egg cell of a related animal with the nucleus of the animal to be cloned. If it takes, scientists
implant the mammoth embry into a surrogate mother -- likely an African Elephant. Next
stop de-extinction!
Though it all sounds relatively easy, it ain't. There are a handful of teams working on cloning
extinct species, including mammoths, but so far there's no luck. Nature has a tough time
preserving DNA and nuclei for science. Until we find one, we'll just have to keep watching
Jurassic Park.