Tag: woolly mammoth
Researchers Sequence Woolly-Mammoth Genome
by admin on Nov.20, 2008, under general research
OK, so this is a little off topic, but it does show how far researchers have come in sequencing genomes. Scientists at Penn State reported the genome-wide sequence of the woolly mammoth, an extinct elephant species adapted to living in cold environments. In all, four billion DNA bases were sequenced.
Previous studies on extinct organisms have generated only small amounts of data,” explains Stephan C. Schuster, Penn State professor of biochemistry and molecular biology. “Our dataset is 100 times more extensive than any other published dataset for an extinct species, demonstrating that ancient DNA studies can be brought up to the same level as modern genome projects.”
“Only after the genome of the African elephant has been completed will we be able to make a final assessment about how much of the full woolly-mammoth genome we have sequenced,” Miller says.
The team sequenced the mammoth’s nuclear genome using DNA from the hairs of a mammoth body buried in the Siberian permafrost for 20,000 years and a second mammoth mummy that is at least 60,000 years old.
Source: http://www.physorg.com
Cloning From The Grave
by bethany on Nov.04, 2008, under cloning
Image Courtesy www.dailymail.co.uk
Researchers in Japan have announced that they have created clones of a mouse that had been frozen for 16 years. It is reportedly the first time scientists have cloned a frozen animal. Potential applications of the research include bringing extinct animals such as the woolly mammoth back to life. Critics of the research have voiced concerns that the research will lead to cloning of human beings.
Scientists had previously thought that freezing a body would create ice crystals that destroy cellular DNA. For this reason, the Japanese researchers at the Centre for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan used brain cells because they believed the skull and the fat content of the brain would protect the cells from damage. Still, the success rate of the procedure was quite low: it took 1,100 attempts to produce seven healthy clones.
More information on the research is available at the Daily Mail.
