wooly mammoth

[looby-loo]

I remember years ago hearing about scientists who were going to try and breed a wooly mammoth...did it ever happen?

[einsteinsdog]

They didnt manage to extract any complete dna ,it was broken

[looby-loo]

Ahhh. I wondered. thanks for that

[Octavius]

To date, 39 preserved bodies have been found, but only four of them are complete. In most cases the flesh shows signs of decay before its freezing and later desiccation.

In addition to frozen corpses, large amounts of mammoth ivory have been found in Siberia. Mammoth tusks have been an article of trade for at least 2,000 years. They have been and are still a highly prized commodity. G�y�k, the 13th century Khan of the Mongols, is reputed to have sat on a throne made from mammoth ivory, and even today it is in great demand as a replacement for the now-banned export of elephant ivory.

Since there is a known case in which an Indian elephant and an African elephant have produced a live (though sickly) offspring, it has been theorised that if mammoths were still alive today, they would be able to interbreed with Indian elephants.

This has led to the idea that perhaps a mammoth-like beast could be recreated by taking genetic material from a frozen mammoth and combining it with that from a modern Indian elephant. Scientists hope to retrieve the preserved reproductive organs of a frozen mammoth and revive its sperm cells. However, not enough genetic material has been found in frozen mammoths for this to be attempted.

[lady_p_gold]

Yes, and I wish it would get off the bloody sofa - hairs everywhere