Staff Writer
A well preserved woolly
mammoth, named Buttercup, found in Siberia in May of 2013 is being analyzed by
scientists to find out if it has enough DNA to be cloned. Buttercup had been
well preserved beneath the permafrost, with three legs, most of her body and
head, and her trunk remaining intact. In the three days following her
discovery, scientists focused on finding out more about her life before they
had to freeze her again to prevent rot.
Buttercup lived
approximately 40,000 years ago. She often ate dandelions and buttercups, she
had eight calves and lost one baby, and died in her mid-50s. It is believed
that the woolly mammoth became trapped in a bog and was attacked, most likely
by wolves, and eaten alive. When discovered, she oozed a red liquid; the
scientists present assumed it to be blood. Dr. Tori Herridge, a paleobiologist
at London’s Natural History Museum, says, “As a shorthand, people call it
blood, but in reality what you have is a reddish fluid. The researchers didn’t
find any intact red blood cells at all, but the red still came from the
hemoglobin.”
Russian and Korean
scientists have been looking for a full strand of DNA to use to clone
Buttercup. Insung Hwang, a geneticist at the South Korean biotech company Sooam
says, “There is the possibility of finding something that is amazing. We are
very hopeful that this mammoth can give us an accurate genomic map that we can
use as a template in the future to possibly bring back the mammoth.” Mammoths
found previously only had a little bit of blood and no complete DNA strands. So
far, no complete genome has been found in Buttercup, either. If scientists
cannot find a complete strand, there are other methods to bring back the
mammoth.
Scientists may be able
to take some long fragments of DNA from tissue and put them together to form a
complete genome. Also, if unable to find a full, undamaged genome, Harvard
University Researcher George Church has another idea: To combine Buttercup’s
DNA with that of an elephant. He wants to take specific traits from the
mammoth, such as resistance to cold, the hair and the extra fat, and add these
to the Asian elephant, which is the closest relative of the woolly mammoth.
Herridge finds the
cloning process to be an ethical conflict. An elephant would have to be used as
a surrogate, carrying the mammoth for 22 months. During this period of time,
the elephant could be damaged and afterwards, the mammoth may not even survive.
“Cloning a mammoth will require you to experiment on probably many, many Asian
elephants,” Herridge says. The new born would have to adapt to the new
environment, live in captivity and likely be doomed to a lonely existence.
Woolly mammoths were allegedly social creatures, and this modern day mammoth
would find itself on its own.
Sir Ian Wilmut, the man
behind the cloning of Dolly the Sheep, believes it could be worthwhile. “I
think it should be done as long as we can provide great care for the animal. If
there are reasonable prospects of them being healthy, we should do it. We can
learn a lot about them,” Wilmut says.
The amount of time
before the woolly mammoth walks the Earth again is unclear.
Last month, the Russian
Website Yakutia Today said the revival project could take until 2045. However,
a new documentary, “How to Clone a Woolly Mammoth” that includes details from
the autopsy airing on the Smithsonian Channel at 8 p.m. on Nov. 29, is less
specific on the time frame. It is possible that the mammoth could be brought
back sooner. Hwang says, “We’re trying hard to make this possible within our
generation.”
