Japanese scientists 'reawaken' cells of woolly mammoth

Japanese scientists 'reawaken' cells of woolly mammoth

Move brings them one step closer to bringing prehistoric beasts back to life

By Gamze Turkoglu Oguz

ANKARA (AA) – Scientists in Japan have ‘awakened’ the 28,000-year-old cells of an ancient woolly mammoth, taking them one step closer to bringing the extinct animals back to life.

Yuka, a preserved mammoth, was discovered nine years ago in northern Siberia’s frozen permafrost wasteland, according to the ScienceAlert website.

Scientists are now engaged in implanting Yuka's well-preserved cell nuclei into the egg cells of mice.

Kei Miyamoto, a genetic engineer from Kindai University, said cell activity could happen and parts of it could be recreated even though a remarkable amount of time has passed.

The scientists suggested that further functions such as DNA replication and transcription could be induced by activating less-damaged samples.

Miyamoto said that once they obtain cell nuclei in better condition, experiments on cell division could be carried out in the future.

He added, however, that there is a long way to go before the world could see a resurrection of the species.

* Gozde Bayar contributed to this story from Ankara

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