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Gene editing|Is it feasible to "resurrect" mammoths to protect species and combat climate warming?

2021-09-24T22:19:52.986Z


In the movie "Jurassic Park", scientists use DNA to "resurrect" extinct dinosaurs. A similar concept may come true in the future with the establishment of a new company. Last Monday (September 13), Harvard University


In the movie "Jurassic Park", scientists use DNA to "resurrect" extinct dinosaurs.

A similar concept may come true in the future with the establishment of a new company.

Last Monday (September 13), George Church, professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, and Ben Lamm, a technology entrepreneur, announced the establishment of Colossal, which will "resurrect" the mammoth.


The so-called "resurrection" is actually the use of "de-extinction" (de-extinction) biotechnology, not really resurrecting extinct mammoths.

Church clarified: "We are going to extinct genes, not species. The goal is to breed elephants that can mate with the endangered Asian elephants and are resistant to cold."

After analyzing the genomes of existing elephants and mammoths, Lamm and the company's director of biological sciences Eriona Hysolli said that at least 60 genes related to mammoth characteristics have been targeted, such as thin ears, long hair, cold-resistant blood system, and thick fat. Wait.

Colossal will collect cells from Asian elephants, and use gene editing technology CRISPR-Cas9 to introduce mammoth genes into Asian elephant cell genes; then use stem cell technology to prepare eggs and artificial insemination to produce embryos; finally, Asian elephants replace mothers or Artificial uterus is conceived.

They hope that the "resurrected" "mammoths" will be Asian elephants with mammoth characteristics in appearance and behavior.

Colossal predicts that the first "mammoth" will be bred in six years, and it will take another ten to twelve years to reach adulthood.

In the vision of Lamm and Church, the real purpose of the "Mammoth" project is "to bring in diversity from extinct species to modern species in order to help them and the ecosystem they live in."

However, why does "resurrecting" the mammoth help the endangered Asian elephant survive? What are the technical problems and how likely is it to succeed?

Why mammoths are expected to protect the Arctic permafrost and fight global warming?

Will such artificial manipulation of the ecology create more problems?

For more details, please read the 283th "Hong Kong 01" Electronic Weekly Newsletter (September 20, 2021) "

Responsible "Resurrecting" Mammoths in Response to Climate Change?

".

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283th "Hong Kong 01" Electronic Weekly News

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Reliable "resurrection" of mammoths in response to climate change?

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2021-09-24

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