Resurrection Researchers Recreate Woolly Mammoth Protein in Living Cell
Woolly Mammoth Thanks to DNA sequencing this fellow may soon have a new lease on life. (Well, not exactly, but it's still quite a coup.) Tracy O (CC Licensed)The first sequencing of a complex protein from an extinct species Scientists in Australia, Canada and Denmark have resurrected woolly mammoth blood, determining that the huge beasts' circulatory systems acted as a sort of antifreeze. The process uses DNA extracted from 43,000-year-old mammoth bones and then duplicated inside E. coli bacteria cells. It could easily be adapted to other extinct species, the researchers say, suggesting future medical labs full of dinosaur blood (if not full-fledged dinos). For now, the team plans to study Australian marsupials like the extinct thylacine, a small tiger, and endangered Tasmanian Devil. Studying extinct animals' proteins can yield surprising results that could never be obtained with only the fossil record, says Alan Cooper, director of the Australian Centre...