SCIENTISTS are working to bring the genes of wooly mammoths back from extinction and use them to create an “Arctic elephant.”
Mammoths completely disappeared from the earth around 4,000 years ago.
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Well-preserved samples of the creatures have been found in the Arctic permafrost, however, which scientists plan to use to bring back the extinct giants.
Researchers from Harvard Medical School (HMS) are now working to combine DNA samples with Asian elephants in order to ring the genes back from the dead, according to Newsweek.
They hope to be able to produce embryos of mammoth-like elephants in a few years time.
Its eventual aim is to produce an entire population of the animals.
The Asian Elephant is the closest living relative to the wooly mammoth and is also facing an extinction battle.
The research believes that the mammoth’s cold-resistant genes could be combined with modern Asian elephants to allow them to live in colder regions.
The new elephant could then be used to restore Arctic environments.
HMS geneticist George Church explained that it may not be possible to create live mammoths from the genes immediately.
Yet any live mammoth genes could still be put to good use.
“We’re trying to de-extinct genes,” he told Harvard Medical School News.
“The field has actually already done this with two genes that confer cold-resistant properties to organisms.
“The idea is to safely introduce these and other genes into present-day elephants so the elephants can comfortably live in and restore Arctic environments,” he added.
Combatting climate change is one of the primary reasons why Church, who has co-founded a company called Colossal to patent the gene-editing technology needed, has focused on bringing the mammoth DNA back.
“All elephant species are endangered,” he said.
“We’re trying to give them new land in the Arctic that’s far away from humans, who are the major culprits causing extinction.”
“An Arctic elephant is a better term,” he told The Times of the combining of elephant DNA with mammoth.
‘SAVING ARCTIC PERMAFROST’
Scientist believes that the “arctic elephants” could also help slow down the melting of Arctic permafrost.
Large quantities of carbon and methane are locked away under the Arctic permafrost and once released, could further exacerbate global heating.
Yet elephant-mammoth hybrids could trample the new rapid tree growth that is making it harder for frost to penetrate the ground and freeze it.
If the permafrost could be saved, the carbon lying under the surface would remain in place.
“The two-for-one is that not only would the elephants get a new homeland, but their homeland is in desperate need of environmental restoration, and they can help,” Church explained.
“Moving genetically adapted elephants to the Arctic offers an opportunity to sequester, or remove from the atmosphere, significant amounts of carbon and to prevent more carbon from escaping.”
NEW FUNDING
Church had been leading a team of moonlighters working on reviving mammoths for eight years before announcing his company Colossal in September 2021, according to the New York Times.
He first announced the work on creating the new animal in a public talk at the National Geographic Society in 2013.
The company has received $15million in initial funding to carry out experiments in labs in Boston and Dallas.
“This is a major milestone for us,” Church said at the time.
“It’s going to make all the difference in the world.”
ETHICAL QUESTIONS
Some researchers have questioned whether it is ethical to bring the genes back to life and use it in this way, however.
“Projects involving genetic manipulation often raise concerns about ‘playing God’ or meddling with nature,” Julian Koplin, Research Fellow in Biomedical Ethics at the University of Melbourne, Australia, told Newsweek.
“In this case, though, the aim is to re-introduce mammoths into ecosystems in which they used to exist—which to my mind resembles existing rewilding projects more closely than Frankensteinian meddling with nature.”
“There’s tons of trouble everyone is going to encounter along the way,” added Beth Shapiro, the author of How to Clone a Mammoth, to the New York Times.
“I’m personally excited by the project,” Koplin continued, however.
“This is partly because—like everyone—I love woolly mammoths, and partly because of what de-extinction technologies could do for our ability to repair some of the damage humans have inflicted on biodiversity.
“Since the consequences of climate change are potentially catastrophic, I think it’s worth taking seriously any strategies that could help, including those that have a low chance of success or might seem far-fetched.
“If the stakes are high enough, even a long shot is worth taking.”
‘CATASTROPHIC ISSUES’
Other questions have also been raised about the uncertainly of how the new mammoth-elephant hybrid would behave.
“There is reason to be sceptical that introducing some mammoth genes into Asian elephants will result in them adopting the behaviour of mammoths from thousands of years ago,” Christopher Gyngell, also a Research Fellow in Biomedical Ethics at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute told Newsweek.
“Elephants, as well as humans, learn behaviours from their parents and elders … It’s not clear that elephant-mammal hybrids will act like mammoths with no established elders living in the ecosystem.”
“It’s a great aim,” Gyngell said.
“Although this project uses novel technologies, it pursues similar goals to other environmental projects … furthermore, the melting of the Siberian permafrost is a serious global problem.
“Ambitious projects like this may be justified when trying to solve potentially catastrophic issues.”
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