The Woolly Mammoth, extinct for 10,000 years, made some big splashes in the tail-end of 2005. Right before Christmas, labs working independently in Germany and Canada reported they had sequenced or decoded large portions of DNA from the ancient beast, a discovery that could theoretically lead to mammoths grown in test tubes and the resurrection of the species.
The researchers, including geneticist Dr. Hendrik Poinar at McMaster University, extracted the DNA from bones of a 28 000 year-old mammoth unearthed by paleontologists in Siberia, whose dry and icy permafrost layer has yielded remarkably preserved mammoth specimens over the latter half of last century. Poinar decoded 30 million base pairs of DNA, which represents a mere one per cent of the mammoth’s genome. Poinar hopes to crack the remaining 99 per cent in the next two years with the help of imminent technological advancements and the collaboration of labs worldwide. When completely cracked, the DNA sequence could yield the blueprint of the mammoth body as well as the relationship of mammoths to their Indian and African elephant cousins. But more fantastically, it may even be possible to resurrect mammoths Jurassic Park style.
Does this mean that one day we will be gawking at mammoths as they graze behind electric fences? Although many scientists argue that it is much too early to think about Pleistocene Park, Poinar is allegedly planning a conference dealing with the ethics and morals of resurrecting extinct creatures. But why don’t you ask him yourself? Poinar will be speaking at U of T on January 29, as part of the RCI’s Science on Sunday Series (www.psych.utoronto.ca/~rci/). Stay tuned for more coverage.
- Chris Damdar
