Frozen 28,000-year-old woolly mammoth cells come back to life, but only briefly

A team of scientists in Japan has successfully shown activity in 28,000-year-old cells from a frozen mammoth. The cells were implanted in mouse cells. But before our imaginations get ahead of us, the woolly mammal isn’t going to be walking among us anytime soon. Cells from the mammoth’s frozen bone marrow and muscles were used for the experiment. The cell nucleus from the muscle tissue was moved into egg cells from mice. To their amazement, the researchers saw structures that only formed before cells begin to divide. The researchers also found signs of what could be repairs made to the damaged mammoth DNA. [caption id=“attachment_6248451” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] The 28,000-year-old mummified remains of a woolly mammoth, which included the brain with its folds and visible blood vessels, was found in August 2010 on the Laptev Sea coast near Yukagir, Russia. The mammoth, named Yuka, was 6 to 9 years old when she died. Image courtesy: Anastasia Kharlamova[/caption] The mammoth, Yuka, was discovered in August 2010 frozen in Siberian permafrost for 28,000 years, according to the study  published in Scientific Reports. Interestingly, Yuka’s mummified brain was quite well preserved, with its folds and even blood vessels still visible. Scientists noted that the brain structure bore a strong resemblance to that of modern-day elephants. Of the several dozen mouse egg cells that were prepared for reanimation, five displayed reactions that take place just before cell division begins, Kei Miyamoto, a member of the research team at Kindai University, Japan, told AFP. That said, none of them followed through with the actual cell division process needed for a mammoth to be reborn. “Until now many studies have focused on analysing fossil DNA and not whether they still function,” Miyamoto added. What the study’s findings do prove is that 39,000 years later, cells can still be partially alive and at least be partly reanimated. [caption id=“attachment_6248571” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] The 28,000-year-old mummified remains of a young woolly mammoth included an intact brain with its folds and blood vessels visible. Image courtesy: Anastasia Kharlamova[/caption] The study doesn’t add much hope for the Jurassic Park-style resurrection of the long-extinct species, he cautioned. The damage to cells was very profound, so much so that none of the cells successfully divided. “I have to say we are very far from recreating a mammoth,” Miyamoto said. “We need new technology, we want to try various approaches.” Miyamoto’s team is working with other Japanese and Russian institutes to study and potentially clone the woolly mammoth, and also study other means of bringing the prehistoric giant back to life. With inputs from AFP