"Can an extinct species be resurrected?" This question may sound crazy. But a bioscience company is very confident that it can make this ambitious project a reality.
Colossal, as the company is called, announced that it will deploy the bioscience technology it developed to return the woolly mammoth or prehistoric elephant to the Arctic tundra.
They leveraged a partnership with geneticists from Harvard Medical School in the re-creation of this species. Colossal argues that reviving mammoths will restore damaged or lost ecosystems, and in doing so could help slow or even halt the effects of climate change.
"Never before have humans harnessed the power of this technology to rebuild ecosystems, heal our Earth, and preserve its future through an extinct animal population," said Coloasal CEO and co-founder Ben Lamm.
"In addition to resurrecting an ancient extinct species such as the woolly mammoth, we will be able to use this technology to help preserve other species that are on the verge of extinction, and restore animals for which humans had a hand in their demise."
Getting to know prehistoric elephants
During their lifetime, the woolly mammoth roamed most of the Arctic. They coexisted with early humans who hunted cold-resistant herbivores for food, and used tusks and bones from dead mammoths as tools.
The animal died about 4,000 years ago. For decades, scientists have been collecting pieces of mammoth tusk, bone, teeth and hair for extraction and trying to sequence mammoth DNA.
Colossal said it aimed to incorporate woolly mammoth DNA sequences collected from well-preserved remains in permafrost and frozen steppes into the Asian elephant genome. Later, all of this was used to create what they called the "elephant-mamot hybrid".
"Asian elephants and woolly mammoths have a similar DNA composition, 99.6%," Colossal wrote on their website.
The company's founder, George Church, is a renowned geneticist and professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, who uses pioneering techniques, including CRISPR technology to advance the extermination of species.
"The technology found in pursuit of this grand vision can create very significant opportunities in conservation and beyond," said Church.
The large migration pattern of the woolly mammoth is considered important for maintaining the health of the Arctic region's environment. Colossal said restoring extinct animals has the potential to revitalize Arctic grasslands to combat climate change, for example by carbon sequestration and suppression of methane gas.
