Colossal Biosciences has engineered "woolly mice" that mimic woolly mammoths through genetic modifications. This innovation is part of a larger goal to resurrect mammoths. By analyzing the DNA of the Asian elephant and comparing it to mammoth genetic material, researchers targeted specific genes responsible for distinctive features, such as hair length and pigmentation. The chief science officer, Beth Shapiro, emphasizes that this experiment serves as validation for their de-extinction aspirations, although peer-review of their work is still pending.
For us, it's an incredibly big deal," Beth Shapiro, chief science officer at Colossal, told NPR. "This is really validation that what we have in mind for our longer-term de-extinction project is really going to work."
By comparing the Asian elephant's DNA to surviving genetic material from mammoths, the team identified the genes responsible for some of the mammoth's most distinguishing characteristics, including its hair and body fat.
Some of the genes the team modified included one known as FGF5, which controls cycles of hair growth, to create longer hair. And to lighten the strands to golden hues, the researchers modified another gene, MC1R.
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