This week noticed the discharge of some fascinating information about some very furry rodents—so-called “woolly mice”—created as a part of an experiment to discover how we would in the future resurrect the woolly mammoth.
The thought of bringing again extinct species has gained traction due to advances in sequencing of historic DNA. This historic genetic information is deepening our understanding of the previous—as an illustration, by shedding gentle on interactions amongst prehistoric people. However researchers have gotten extra bold. Somewhat than simply studying historic DNA, they wish to use it—by inserting it into residing organisms.
As a result of this concept is so new and attracting a lot consideration, I made a decision it might be helpful to create a file of earlier makes an attempt so as to add extinct DNA to residing organisms. And for the reason that know-how doesn’t have a reputation, let’s give it one: “chronogenics.” Learn the total story.
—Antonio Regalado
This text first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Expertise Overview’s weekly biotech e-newsletter. To obtain it in your inbox each Thursday, and browse articles like this primary, enroll right here.
When you’re concerned with de-extinction, why not take a look at:
+ How a lot would you pay to see a woolly mammoth? We spoke to Sara Ord, director of species restoration at Colossal, the world’s first “de-extinction” firm, about its large ambitions.
+ Colossal can also be a de-extinction firm, which is making an attempt to resurrect the dodo. Learn the total story.
+ DNA that was frozen for two million years has been sequenced. The traditional DNA fragments come from a Greenland ecosystem the place mastodons roamed amongst flowering crops. It might maintain clues to easy methods to survive a warming local weather.
