Scientists Seek to Revive Extinct Mammoth by Inserting Its Genes Into Elephant DNA

By: | April 6th, 2015

Woolly mammoth—a giant, hairy elephant-like beast roughly the size of a modern African elephant went extinct thousands of years ago. The mammoth was roughly 11ft tall and weighed about seven tons. They had long hair and fur for protection from severe winters.

Mammoth carcasses have been found in extremely cold places all over the world. It is thought that there are 150 million mammoths still buried under the permafrost.

But scientists at Harvard University are working to bring the extinct species back to life through a process known as de-extinction.

They are using a gene-editing technique known as CRISPR, inserting more than a dozen genes of the extinct mammal into the live DNA of an elephant.

Scientists are hoping that one day they will be able to clone this prehistoric animal.

Nidhi Goyal

Nidhi is a gold medalist Post Graduate in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.

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