Siberian scientists announce they now have a 'high chance' to clone the woolly mammoth

Discovery of blood in creature frozen for 43,000 years is seen as major breakthrough by international team.

1/11. Picture: Nikolay Pschennikov, North-Eastern Federal Universtity

The experts believe they will be able to extract high quality DNA from the remains which have undergone a unique autopsy in Yakutsk, capital of the Sakha Repblic, also called Yakutia. There was palpable excitement among the team which included scientists from Russia, the UK, the USA, Denmark, South Korea and Moldova.

Radik Khayrullin, vice president of the Russian Association of Medical Anthropologists, said in Yakutsk: 'The data we are about to receive will give us a high chance to clone the mammoth.'

He immediately called for responsibility in bringing the ancient beast - a native of Siberia - back to life, urging that this is not done to play God.

'We must have a reason to do this, as it is one thing to clone it for scientific purpose, and another to clone for the sake of curiosity'.

But theoretically the possibility exists that this female mammoth will become the parent of the first of the species to walk the planet.

Mr Khayrullin also acknowledged that the mammoth cannot be identical to the creatures that become extinct between 4,000 and 10,000 years ago. [...] siberiantimes.com

Related post