(Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Thomas Quine)
There is a huge chance that the world will see the woolly mammoth back on Earth in less than five years. Researchers keen on bringing back the extinct species have successfully reprogrammed the elephant stem cell to bring back the woolly mammoth potentially.
Woolly Mammoth De-Extinction Progress
Colossal Biosciences researchers have successfully produced "pluripotent" elephant stem cells, which can differentiate into any cell type in the body. Co-founder and chief geneticist of Colossal Dr. George Church told MailOnline that the development of these cells "opens the door" to the mammoth's resurgence.
"It's not a huge extrapolation to think that we'll be able to synthesize on a large scale in the future," he stated.
The capacity to produce pluripotent stem cells from elephant cells is essential to this progress.
According to Dr. Church, making an elephant-mammoth hybrid is the first stage, even though the de-extinction of the woolly mammoth may be the ultimate objective. They aim to create a specific hybrid to benefit Asian elephants and restore the mammoth's diversity.
Massive expects the resulting hybrid to support elephant growth and restore the harmed habitats in the Arctic.
Asian elephants are today "stuck" in densely populated areas of the human population, which is problematic for both elephants and people. However, if they could be developed to survive harsher environments, they might be able to flourish in places where woolly mammoths formerly roamed, far from populated regions.
The researcher said they intend to assist them by utilizing the diversity derived from their recently discovered ancient ancestors so they could thrive in potentially harsh new conditions.
All of this, though, would not be possible without the development of induced pluripotent stem cells. According to Eriona Hysolli, head of biological sciences at Colossal Biosciences, developing the methods to generate these cells from elephants has taken years, so it hasn't been easy.
A group of genes known as TP53 retrogenes is present in most animals and is involved in inhibiting tumor formation. An elephant has about 40 copies, compared to just two in humans.
With the help of these cells, Colossal Biosciences intends to strengthen its efforts to test elephants for cold resistance genes and preserve current populations.
Using a method called CRISPR, scientists can change the genes of living animals, but this process is too slow for large-scale testing.
Per Dr. Church, instead of waiting for the nearly two-year gestation period in elephants, scientists may use stem cells to determine whether their genetic modifications have been successful within a few weeks. The best part is that because induced pluripotent stem cells are "immortal," researchers can develop thousands of tests simultaneously in less time.
The team now intends to test cold-resistant genes in elephants to produce eggs and sperm cells for research and conservation.
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Wolly Mammoth De-Extinction Uses Modern Asian Elephants
Researchers at Colossal Biosciences are trying to piece together the woolly mammoth's genome by using DNA from contemporary Asian elephants and samples from freshly found specimens to fill in the gaps. Their objective is to reconstruct the woolly mammoth's genetic code, insert it into donor eggs from Asian elephants, fertilize the resulting embryos in vitro, and implant the ensuing progeny into surrogates.
One of their obstacles is encouraging the re-wilding of woolly mammoths when they successfully bring the extinct species back.
The first woolly mammoth of the 21st century might be introduced by 2028.
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