SAVED FROM EXTINCTION - THE MAMMOTH?

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Although extinct now for around 4500 years, the woolly mammoth was one of the most magnificent animals ever to walk the earth. Closely related to our modern day elephants, they were a much larger species often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long, course hair.

The largest known species, the Songhua River mammoth (Mammuthus sungari) , reached heights of at least 5 metres (16 ft) at the shoulder. Mammoths would probably normally weigh in the region of 6 to 8 tons, but exceptionally large males may have exceeded 12 tons. However, most species of mammoth were only about as large as a modern Asian elephant.

However, it may now be possible for mammoths to once again, roam the Earth. Why? Because scientists from from the Siberian mammoth museum and Japan's Kinki University are undertaking a Jurassic Park-style experiment in an effort to bring the woolly mammoth out of extinction. These scientists claim that a thigh bone found in August 2011 contains remarkably well-preserved marrow cells, which could form the starting point of the experiment. From there they plan to extract a nucleus from the animal's bone marrow and insert it into the egg of an African elephant. If succesful, the cloning could be complete within the next five years!

The Roslin Institute, famous for cloning Dolly the sheep, has published some thoughts on the possibilities of bringing extinct species back to life.

It said it was extremely unlikely such an experiment would be successful, especially using an elephant surrogate:

'...first, a suitable surrogate mother animal is required. For the mammoth this would need to be a cow (as best biological fit) but even here the size difference may preclude gestation to term.The success rate for such an experiment would be in the range of 1-5%. The second issue would be the need for viable whole cells.If there are intact cells in this tissue they have been 'stored' frozen. However, if we think back to what actually happened to the animal - it died, even if from the cold, the cells in the body would have taken some time to freeze. This time lag would allow for breakdown of the cells, which normally happens when any animal dies. Then the carcass would freeze. So it is unlikely that the cells would be viable...'

'...assuming that viable cells are found it becomes a numbers game. Let's say that one in a thousand cells were nevertheless viable, practical issues come into play. Given that we have an efficiency of 1% cloning for livestock species and if only one in a thousand cells are viable then around 100,000 cells would need to be transferred...'

Charles Foster, a fellow at Green Templeton College, Oxford, seemed more optimistic.

'...the idea of mammoth cloning isn't completely ridiculous. How the resultant embryos would fare beyond the stage of a few cells is more or less unknown. While most of the genetic coding of the embryo would come from the mammoth, some would come from the elephant ovum. We really don't know what the contribution of that cytoplasmic material is, or how it would interact with 'alien' DNA. It would however mean that, even if successful, the clone would be a hybrid rather than a pure mammoth...'

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based on an article by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth and http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16068581

Photos care of http://www.amnh.org/science/papers/mammoths.php and http://true-wildlife.blogspot.com/2011/04/woolly-mammoth.html