A Mammoth Breakthrough

A biotech team has created a “woolly mouse,” marking a step forward in the quest to revive the long-extinct species

- by IAN RANDALL

SCIENTISTS LOOKING TO BRING the extinct woolly mammoth back to life have made adorable progress-using gene editing to create a "woolly mouse."

The team at genetics and biotech firm Colossal Biosciences has imbued rodents with thicker, woolly coats, golden fur and other cold-climate adaptations, all of which are key characteristics of the iconic woolly mammoth.

“The Colossal Woolly Mouse marks a watershed moment in our de-extinction mission,” said Colossal Biosciences co-founder and CEO Ben Lamm. “This success brings us a step closer to our goal of bringing back the woolly mammoth.”

In their latest work, Colossal researchers analyzed the genomes of 62 elephants and 59 mammoths—dating back between 1,200,000 and 3,500 years ago—picking out those genes that have a significant impact on hair and other traits that help adapt to cold environments.

In particular, the team focused their attention on a suite of genes in which woolly mammoths exhibit fixed differences when compared with Asian elephants, their close cousins.

They then narrowed down their list to 10 genes that play a role in hair properties (including color, length, texture and thickness) and lipid metabolism—and are compatible with mice.

SIMILARITIES The woolly mammoth roamed the Earth 10,000 years ago, and now its characteristics have been recreated in mice (below left).

Finally, the researchers used a mixture of gene editing techniques to modify seven of these genes in the genome of a lab specimen—creating a “woolly mouse.”