Biologists are trying to revive the mammoth: there are genes that can prevent this

A new study shows that 87 genes were affected by deletions during the evolution of the mammoth. To recap,

deletion is a chromosomal rearrangement whenin which a portion of a chromosome is lost. The scientists emphasize that their work is important for an international project to revive extinct species, including the woolly mammoth. 

Discussing methods for reviving extinct species,Scientists are increasingly proposing the use of genome editing methods such as CRISPR-Cas9. It's useful for inserting key gene variants from an extinct species into the genome of a living relative. However, the new study shows that scientists will need to remove certain genes to preserve important biological traits when reconstructing extinct genomes.

Woolly mammoth tusk in permafrost on Wrangel Island. 
Credit: Love Dalen/Stockholm University

Researchers have sequenced two new genomesSiberian mammoths from the last ice age and compared them with previously published genomes of mammoths, as well as Asian and African elephants.

It turned out that the mammoth genome contains many thousandsdeletions and short insertions, which contain more than 3 million letters in the genetic code. They tended to have a negative impact on the viability of mammoths.

However, paleogeneticists also discovered a changefunctionality of 87 genes. Perhaps it was they who contributed to the adaptation of animals to the cold conditions of the Far North. The loss of some of these genes may affect the survival of the "recreated" mammoths in the future.

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