• Education
    • Higher Education
    • Scholarships & Grants
    • Online Learning
    • School Reforms
    • Research & Innovation
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Fashion & Beauty
    • Home & Living
    • Relationships & Family
  • Technology & Startups
    • Software & Apps
    • Startup Success Stories
    • Startups & Innovations
    • Tech Regulations
    • Venture Capital
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cybersecurity
    • Emerging Technologies
    • Gadgets & Devices
    • Industry Analysis
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy
Today Headline
  • Home
  • World News
    • Us & Canada
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Middle East
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • Political Parties
    • Government Policies
    • International Relations
    • Legislative News
  • Business & Finance
    • Market Trends
    • Stock Market
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Corporate News
    • Economic Policies
  • Science & Environment
    • Space Exploration
    • Climate Change
    • Wildlife & Conservation
    • Environmental Policies
    • Medical Research
  • Health
    • Public Health
    • Mental Health
    • Medical Breakthroughs
    • Fitness & Nutrition
    • Pandemic Updates
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Tennis
    • Olympics
    • Motorsport
  • Entertainment
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV & Streaming
    • Celebrity News
    • Awards & Festivals
  • Crime & Justice
    • Court Cases
    • Cybercrime
    • Policing
    • Criminal Investigations
    • Legal Reforms
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • World News
    • Us & Canada
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Middle East
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • Political Parties
    • Government Policies
    • International Relations
    • Legislative News
  • Business & Finance
    • Market Trends
    • Stock Market
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Corporate News
    • Economic Policies
  • Science & Environment
    • Space Exploration
    • Climate Change
    • Wildlife & Conservation
    • Environmental Policies
    • Medical Research
  • Health
    • Public Health
    • Mental Health
    • Medical Breakthroughs
    • Fitness & Nutrition
    • Pandemic Updates
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Tennis
    • Olympics
    • Motorsport
  • Entertainment
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV & Streaming
    • Celebrity News
    • Awards & Festivals
  • Crime & Justice
    • Court Cases
    • Cybercrime
    • Policing
    • Criminal Investigations
    • Legal Reforms
No Result
View All Result
Today Headline
No Result
View All Result
Home Science & Environment

Can genetically engineered ‘woolly’ mice help bring back the mammoth? todayheadline

March 4, 2025
in Science & Environment
Reading Time: 6 mins read
A A
0
Can genetically engineered 'woolly' mice help bring back the mammoth?
13
SHARES
29
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


Mice that have been modified to give them a “mammoth-like” coat

Colossal

There are an estimated 1.5 million genetic differences between woolly mammoths and Asian elephants. Colossal Biosciences, the company aiming to resurrect the extinct species through genetic engineering, has now made mice with “mammoth-like” fur, each with up to five genetic changes. There is, it seems, still a way to go.

True, the fur of these mice is long, curly and blondish. In that way, it does resemble the coats of woolly mammoths preserved in permafrost. However, it isn’t clear that making the same genetic changes to Asian elephants – which have far fewer hairs per area of skin – would have similar results.

“The work done on these mice does not mean that there is a ready solution to bring back a mammoth phenotype,” says team member Love Dalén at Stockholm University in Sweden, who is on Colossal’s scientific advisory board. “As you point out, we also need to figure out how to make the fur grow more.”

Creating Asian elephants with these genetic changes will also be much harder than doing it in mice. “Engineering mutations in mice is a well-established process and not particularly challenging,” says Dusko Ilic at King’s College London.

A modified and unmodified mouse

Colossal

Techniques that work in mice often fail in other species, and the size of elephants and their slower reproduction will vastly increase the time and costs involved. “Those methods have not been developed for elephants and it won’t be easy just based on the anatomy,” says Vincent Lynch at the University at Buffalo, New York. “That is probably the biggest challenge.”

But Lynch has no doubt it is achievable. Indeed, Thomas Hildebrandt at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, Germany – another Colossal advisor – told New Scientist that his team has collected eggs from elephants for the first time, though the results haven’t yet been published. Egg collection is a key step in IVF and the genetic modification of mammals.

So how did Colossal make its “mammoth” mice? The researchers began by looking for known mutations in mice that make their fur look mammoth-like. “[T]he majority of these genes were selected based on previous observations of coat phenotypes in mice,” they write in a paper released today, which hasn’t been peer-reviewed.

They identified eight genes that affect the pattern (curliness), colour and length of hair when disabled in mice. Of these eight, one was naturally disabled in mammoths, according to Colossal.

From the mammoth genome, the team also identified a small mutation thought to affect hair pattern, along with another disabled gene involved in fat metabolism.

The company then tried altering these genes in mice. For instance, in one experiment, it tried using CRISPR gene editing to disable five of these genes in fertilised eggs. From 134 edited eggs, 11 pups were born and in one of these pups, both copies of the five genes were disabled.

Preserved fur on a frozen mammoth trunk

Alamy Stock Photo

In another study, the researchers used a form of CRISPR called base editing to disable several of the genes in embryonic mice stem cells. They combined this with another technique called homologous recombination to make the exact mutation found in the mammoth genome. Making precise changes is much harder than disabling genes – but the recombination method only works well in mice.

The team then sequenced the cells to identify ones with the desired changes and injected them into mice embryos to create chimeric mice. Of 90 embryos injected, seven mice with the four intended changes were born.

These experiments can be said to be successful in terms of producing some mice with the desired physical changes to their fur, but only one of the genetic changes exactly matches what is seen in the mammoth genome. A lot more work is needed to achieve Colossal’s stated aim of creating “a cold-resistant elephant with all of the core biological traits of the woolly mammoth” – and with elephant pregnancies lasting around two years, Colossal is running out of time to meet its self-imposed 2028 deadline.

“An elephant with a fur will not be a mammoth in the way we think of it,” says Juan Antonio Rodríguez at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Many of the 1.5 million differences between the genomes of mammoths and Asian elephants may have no effect, he says, but we don’t know for sure which ones do matter.

Even if we did, making more extensive changes is risky, says Rodríguez. “The more things you change in an organism, the more likely it is that you end up messing up with key metabolic pathways or genes.”

Rodríguez, Lynch and Ilic are all against bringing back the mammoth. Lynch reels off a long list of reasons why he thinks it is a bad idea, from the mammoths’ habitat no longer existing to the ethical aspects of trying to genetically modify elephants – even in humans, for instance, collecting eggs for IVF remains a risky and painful procedure.

“Mammoths are extinct and cannot be ‘de-extincted’ or resurrected,” says Lynch. “All they can do is make an elephant look like a mammoth.”

Topics:

Tags: genetics
Previous Post

India’s Aditya-L1 solar probe watches powerful flare erupt from the sun

Next Post

Thailand, Sri Lanka visa free scheme could facilitate movement of criminals: Officials todayheadline

Related Posts

- Hatchery ponds holding young sucker fish are seen here along the the Sprague River, which eventually feeds into the Klamath River.

California tribe reclaims sacred land near Klamath River todayheadline

June 5, 2025
7

California’s successful virtual power plant program…

June 5, 2025
7
Next Post

Thailand, Sri Lanka visa free scheme could facilitate movement of criminals: Officials todayheadline

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Family calls for change after B.C. nurse dies by suicide after attacks on the job

Family calls for change after B.C. nurse dies by suicide after attacks on the job

April 2, 2025
Pioneering 3D printing project shares successes

Product reduces TPH levels to non-hazardous status

November 27, 2024

Hospital Mergers Fail to Deliver Better Care or Lower Costs, Study Finds todayheadline

December 31, 2024

Police ID man who died after Corso Italia fight

December 23, 2024
Harris tells supporters 'never give up' and urges peaceful transfer of power

Harris tells supporters ‘never give up’ and urges peaceful transfer of power

0
Des Moines Man Accused Of Shooting Ex-Girlfriend's Mother

Des Moines Man Accused Of Shooting Ex-Girlfriend’s Mother

0

Trump ‘looks forward’ to White House meeting with Biden

0
Catholic voters were critical to Donald Trump’s blowout victory: ‘Harris snubbed us’

Catholic voters were critical to Donald Trump’s blowout victory: ‘Harris snubbed us’

0
Thunder Timberwolves Basketball

Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was an MVP hiding in plain sight

June 5, 2025
Former Republican David Jolly launches Democratic bid for Florida governor

Former Republican David Jolly launches Democratic bid for Florida governor

June 5, 2025
The Straits Times logo

Indonesia allowing nickel industry abuses to go unchecked: Report

June 5, 2025
New Zealand parliament suspends Maori MPs who performed protest haka

New Zealand parliament suspends Maori MPs who performed protest haka

June 5, 2025

Recent News

Thunder Timberwolves Basketball

Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was an MVP hiding in plain sight

June 5, 2025
4
Former Republican David Jolly launches Democratic bid for Florida governor

Former Republican David Jolly launches Democratic bid for Florida governor

June 5, 2025
3
The Straits Times logo

Indonesia allowing nickel industry abuses to go unchecked: Report

June 5, 2025
3
New Zealand parliament suspends Maori MPs who performed protest haka

New Zealand parliament suspends Maori MPs who performed protest haka

June 5, 2025
4

TodayHeadline is a dynamic news website dedicated to delivering up-to-date and comprehensive news coverage from around the globe.

Follow Us

Browse by Category

  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Basketball
  • Business & Finance
  • Climate Change
  • Crime & Justice
  • Cybersecurity
  • Economic Policies
  • Elections
  • Entertainment
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Environmental Policies
  • Europe
  • Football
  • Gadgets & Devices
  • Health
  • Medical Research
  • Mental Health
  • Middle East
  • Motorsport
  • Olympics
  • Politics
  • Public Health
  • Relationships & Family
  • Science & Environment
  • Software & Apps
  • Space Exploration
  • Sports
  • Stock Market
  • Technology & Startups
  • Tennis
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Us & Canada
  • Wildlife & Conservation
  • World News

Recent News

Thunder Timberwolves Basketball

Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was an MVP hiding in plain sight

June 5, 2025
Former Republican David Jolly launches Democratic bid for Florida governor

Former Republican David Jolly launches Democratic bid for Florida governor

June 5, 2025
  • Education
  • Lifestyle
  • Technology & Startups
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy

© 2024 Todayheadline.co

Welcome Back!

OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Business & Finance
  • Corporate News
  • Economic Policies
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Market Trends
  • Crime & Justice
  • Court Cases
  • Criminal Investigations
  • Cybercrime
  • Legal Reforms
  • Policing
  • Education
  • Higher Education
  • Online Learning
  • Entertainment
  • Awards & Festivals
  • Celebrity News
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Health
  • Fitness & Nutrition
  • Medical Breakthroughs
  • Mental Health
  • Pandemic Updates
  • Lifestyle
  • Fashion & Beauty
  • Food & Drink
  • Home & Living
  • Politics
  • Elections
  • Government Policies
  • International Relations
  • Legislative News
  • Political Parties
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Middle East
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Cybersecurity
  • Emerging Technologies
  • Gadgets & Devices
  • Industry Analysis
  • Basketball
  • Football
  • Motorsport
  • Olympics
  • Climate Change
  • Environmental Policies
  • Medical Research
  • Science & Environment
  • Space Exploration
  • Wildlife & Conservation
  • Sports
  • Tennis
  • Technology & Startups
  • Software & Apps
  • Startup Success Stories
  • Startups & Innovations
  • Tech Regulations
  • Venture Capital
  • Uncategorized
  • World News
  • Us & Canada
  • Public Health
  • Relationships & Family
  • Travel
  • Research & Innovation
  • Scholarships & Grants
  • School Reforms
  • Stock Market
  • TV & Streaming
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy
  • About us
  • Contact

© 2024 Todayheadline.co