From the well-preserved remains of a woolly mammoth that was buried by Siberian winters about 18,545 years ago, scientists were able to extract viable DNA and sequence the majority of an extinct species' genome for the first time. The mammoth's genome is currently about 70 percent sequenced, and researchers estimate the size of the genome to be 40 percent larger than the human genome—approximately the same size as the modern day elephant, which scientists could theoretically use to birth a cloned anachronistic creature.
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tags: evolution, evolutionary biology, ancient DNA, aDNA, molecular biology, molecular ecology, archaeology, paleontology, fossil eggshell, extinct birds, giant moa, Dinornis robustus, elephant birds, Aepyornis maximus, Mullerornis, Thunderbirds, Genyornis, researchblogging.org,peer-reviewed…
What? Is this a joke, Ethan? Have you been watching Jurassic Park again, drinking Dino DNA or something? No, I got an interesting question from startswithabang.com reader and ichthyophobe Lucas:
Over the years a few intact, frozen woolly mammoth have been found and procured by different scientists…
The genome of the extinct woolley mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) has been sequenced, and reported in Nature. This confirms that elephant genomes are large, like the elephants themselves. It confirms previously proposed relationships amongst the elephants (see phylogeny below) and refines the…
Personally, I think we should start with a dodo, and then work our way up the ethical ladder from there.
... We know roughly how the sequence of life ran forward in time. What about running it backward? ...
Last week in Nature, scientists reported major progress in sequencing the genome of…