Scientists on the verge of de-extincting the Wooly MammothFebruary 18, 2017 - 13:02 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - After successfully extracting sequenceable DNA from a pair of Woolly Mammoth carcasses pulled from Siberia's permafrost in 2014, a team of Harvard researchers announced on Thursday, February 16 that they are tantalizing close to cloning the (currently) extinct pachyderms, Engadget said. The team made the announcement ahead of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting this week. They estimate that they're just two years away from creating a viable hybrid embryo. That is, they take a modern day asian elephant embryo and splice in DNA from the Mammoth to get a fuzzy "mammophant," as the team calls it. "Our aim is to produce a hybrid elephant-mammoth embryo," Harvard Professor George Church told the Guardian. "Actually, it would be more like an elephant with a number of mammoth traits. We're not there yet, but it could happen in a couple of years." So far, the team hasn't progressed passed the cellular stage in creating one of these beasts though they have managed to splice in as many as 45 mammoth genes, up from their initial 15. Within a few years, the team expects to ramp their efforts up to the embryonic stage but it'll likely be quite a while until they can birth a living mammophant. Since the Asian elephant is itself endangered, this hybridizing technique could help preserve the species. At the same time, the Harvard team doesn't want to put one of these valuable animals at risk carrying a mammophant fetus to term, so they're looking into gestating it in an artificial womb. That's where the delay comes in. While Church's team has managed to grow a mouse in an artificial womb for ten days -- half its normal gestation period -- the technology for doing that for an elephant-scale animal likely won't be feasible for at least a decade. And even once that technology has matured, there are still a host of hand-wringing ethical arguments that will have to be sorted before Church's team gets the green light to proceed further. Photo: Smithsonian/Renegade Pictures Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Scholz hopes Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty will be signed this year German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed this year. Ucom equips four bus stops in Ijevan with free Wi-Fi Ucom now provides free Wi-Fi coverage in smart bus stops in four communities of Ijevan. Armenia, Russia discuss life extension of Metsamor nuclear plant Issues regarding the extension of life of the 2nd power unit of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant were discussed in Yerevan. Armenians stage more campaigns against territorial concessions to Azerbaijan Protesters blocked more roads across Armenia on Friday, April 26 in continuing attempts to scuttle territorial concessions to Azerbaijan. |