Extinct Wooly Mammoth Could Walk the Earth Again within 5 Years

Scientists say that they have the capacity to clone a wooly mammoth within a five-year period.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on December 07 2011

It looks like Jurassic Park’s about to become a reality—but instead of a T-Rex, you might have the opportunity to go head-to-head with a real-live wooly mammoth.

Though the huge animal went extinct more than 10,000 years ago, scientists recently unearthed a mammoth thigh bone that contains remarkably well-preserved bone marrow. Russian researchers have extracted the marrow, and are now analyzing its DNA sequence. Likely within the next five years, they claim, they’ll be able to use it to create a clone of the prehistoric animal by replacing the nuclei of elephant eggs with nuclei extracted from the mammoth bone marrow.

Some experts, such as Webb Miller, a genomicist who helped decipher the mammoth’s genetic code, don’t believe it will be so simple: “DNA from a woolly mammoth is a mess,” he told MSNBC. “It’s fractured into very short pieces, and there’s a lot of postmortem DNA damage other than just breakage.”

Nonetheless, the experiment offers the potential for a major scientific breakthrough that could pave the way for the restoration of other extinct species. Of course, it’s imperative that scientists use such power ethically, but if experiments are successful, the possibilities are fascinating (if a little frightening).

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