Laboratory Equipment
Tue, 09/01/2015
Seth Augenstein, Digital Reporter
A Siberian laboratory has opened with the goal of cloning extinct species found with frozen and preserved DNA, according to a Russian magazine.
The Mammoth Museum Institute of Applied Ecology, at the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, opened in August – and is planning to recreate species from DNA extracted in the extreme cold of the nearby Arctic, according to Ogonek magazine.
The laboratory is the culmination of years of planning to recreate woolly mammoths and other long-gone species whose remains have nonetheless survived the millennia and could potentially be recreated through cloning, the Russian laboratory’s officials reportedly told the magazine.
The “revival of the mammoth” is on par with the quest for the Higgs boson and the cure for cancer – and could be a huge breakthrough for Russian science, according to the magazine.
Freezers plunging to -87 degrees Celsius preserve millions of extinct specimens, claimed Semyon Grigoriev, head of the Museum.
“We have the largest collection in the world of frozen carcasses and remains of ancient animals – more than 2 million copies. We’re proud,” Grigoriev reportedly said.
Plans are also in place to clone a woolly rhinoceros, early ancestors of bison and bulls, cave bears and cave lions, according to the report.
However, mammoth DNA has not yet been found intact, the Russians said. The thawing process destroys the nuclear genetic information, they reportedly said.
The Russians have an agreement with Sooam, a Korean biotech firm, and the Beijing Genomics Institute in China, according to the report.
The Russian-led scientific team are not the only ones trying to clone the extinct species. A Harvard University team announced in March they had inserted DNA from the extinct mammoth into the genetic code of an elephant. Another team from Penn State University, the University of Chicago and a Singapore university are pursuing a parallel effort.
Other extinct species, like the quagga, have eluded cloning scientists up until now.
Tue, 09/01/2015
Seth Augenstein, Digital Reporter
A Siberian laboratory has opened with the goal of cloning extinct species found with frozen and preserved DNA, according to a Russian magazine.
The Mammoth Museum Institute of Applied Ecology, at the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, opened in August – and is planning to recreate species from DNA extracted in the extreme cold of the nearby Arctic, according to Ogonek magazine.
The laboratory is the culmination of years of planning to recreate woolly mammoths and other long-gone species whose remains have nonetheless survived the millennia and could potentially be recreated through cloning, the Russian laboratory’s officials reportedly told the magazine.
The “revival of the mammoth” is on par with the quest for the Higgs boson and the cure for cancer – and could be a huge breakthrough for Russian science, according to the magazine.
Freezers plunging to -87 degrees Celsius preserve millions of extinct specimens, claimed Semyon Grigoriev, head of the Museum.
“We have the largest collection in the world of frozen carcasses and remains of ancient animals – more than 2 million copies. We’re proud,” Grigoriev reportedly said.
Plans are also in place to clone a woolly rhinoceros, early ancestors of bison and bulls, cave bears and cave lions, according to the report.
However, mammoth DNA has not yet been found intact, the Russians said. The thawing process destroys the nuclear genetic information, they reportedly said.
The Russians have an agreement with Sooam, a Korean biotech firm, and the Beijing Genomics Institute in China, according to the report.
The Russian-led scientific team are not the only ones trying to clone the extinct species. A Harvard University team announced in March they had inserted DNA from the extinct mammoth into the genetic code of an elephant. Another team from Penn State University, the University of Chicago and a Singapore university are pursuing a parallel effort.
Other extinct species, like the quagga, have eluded cloning scientists up until now.