(PCM) An international team of scientists at the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, Siberia are claiming that there is a very strong possibility that they will be able to clone a woolly mammoth that has been frozen for over 43,000 years.
The scientists claim that they will be able to extract DNA from the frozen woolly mammoth and mix it will that of an elephant and hope that the DNA will be the perfect material to use for the cloning experiment.
A scientist who spoke with the Siberian Times said “”The data we are about to receive will give us a high chance to clone the mammoth.We must have a reason to do this, as it is one thing to clone it for scientific purpose, and another to clone for the sake of curiosity.”
If the cloning is a success than it needs to be taken into consideration that the animal created during the cloning process will be different than the woolly mammoth that was living approximately 43,000 years ago. The evolutionary paths of both the woolly mammoth and the elephant split many years ago.
The scientists that are conducting the autopsy on the frozen woolly mammoth are incredibly surprised at just how well-preserved the specimen is after so many years and say that it has been better preserved that human body that has only been buried for six months.
The frozen woolly mammoth was discovered in May 2013 on the Mally Lyakhovsky Island, off the northern coast of Siberia.
