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Scientists Say Mammoth Cloning Effort Underway
Scientists say they're on the verge of a major breakthrough that could lead to the creation of a woolly mammoth. Genetics Professor George Church and his Harvard University team say they've been working for two years on recreating a DNA blue print of the ancient mammoth.
The hairy body and huge tusk mammoth haven't been around for more than four-thousand years. But scientists are using DNA from mammoths preserved in Arctic permafrost to look for the genes that separated them from common elephants. The Harvard team thinks that splicing the mammoth genes into the genome of an elephant embryo can lead to an animal with features resembling an ancient mammoth. The scientists say we may see a cloned mammoth in two years.
Scientists say they're on the verge of a major breakthrough that could lead to the creation of a woolly mammoth. Genetics Professor George Church and his Harvard University team say they've been working for two years on recreating a DNA blue print of the ancient mammoth.
The hairy body and huge tusk mammoth haven't been around for more than four-thousand years. But scientists are using DNA from mammoths preserved in Arctic permafrost to look for the genes that separated them from common elephants. The Harvard team thinks that splicing the mammoth genes into the genome of an elephant embryo can lead to an animal with features resembling an ancient mammoth. The scientists say we may see a cloned mammoth in two years.