As biotech startups develop ways to resurrect the woolly mammoth, an international team of scientists have reconstructed the iconic Ice Age beast’s 28 pairs of chromosomes.
This genetic breakthrough was made possible by a chromosome extracted from a 52,000-year-old mammoth that freeze-dried soon after death in northeastern Siberia. This fossilized chromosome provides unprecedented details about the woolly mammoth’s genome and its genetic relation to its closest living cousin, the Asian elephant.
Although de-extinction is often discussed with Jurassic Park, most talk surrounds the Woolly Mammoth. To bring back an animal from oblivion, you need genetic information. And lots of it. Ancient remnants of DNA have been found buried in fossils recovered from Earth’s frozen tundra, but this information contains only around 100 base pairs, which isn’t nearly enough to get a full genetic picture.
A new international study, spearheaded by researchers at Rice University, has successfully uncovered a fossilized chromosome from a 52,000-year-old mammoth. This chromosomal discovery is upwards of a million times longer and shows both how the genome was organized in living cells and what genes were active in its skin tissue.
The team discovered that the woolly mammoth contained 28 pairs of chromosomes, the same number as modern Asian elephants. Active genes in the skin promoted the growth of hair follicles, giving woolly mammoths their hairy coat.
For the first time, researchers have a woolly mammoth tissue for which they know roughly which genes were switched on and which genes were off. This is an extraordinary new type of data, and it’s the first measure of cell-specific gene activity of the genes in any ancient DNA sample.
Scientists used a technique known as “Hi-C” to detect what parts of the DNA interact with one another in the nucleus. Finally, they put this data together along with DNA sequencing to create a map of the woolly mammoth’s genome.
Although biotech startups are eager to resurrect the woolly mammoth, many experts have warned against trying to bring back the species. This chromosomal model could help scientists better understand how genomes drive changing characteristics across different environments, but it may not be used for de-extinction.
Source: https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a61650289/woolly-mammoth-fossilized-chromosome/