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Woolly mammoth genome comes to life
December 23, 2005Decoding extinct genomes now possible, says geneticist
A McMaster University geneticist, in collaboration with genome researchers from Penn State University and the American Museum of Natural History has made history by mapping a portion of the woolly mammoth's genome. The discovery, which has astounded the scientific world, surpasses an earlier study released today by Nature that also concerns the woolly mammoth.
Hendrik Poinar, a molecular evolutionary geneticist in the department of anthropology and pathology at McMaster University, says his study involves the vital nuclear DNA within a Mammoth rather than the lesser mitochondria, on which the Nature study is based.
"Mitochondria is so 1980s. It only allows you to look at the maternal side of evolution," says Poinar. "The nuclear DNA we've mapped gives us our first glimpse at both sides of evolution. We can sequence Neanderthals, animals, plants. Basically, if we find a well-preserved specimen, we can sequence its genome."
The discovery occurred when Poinar extracted DNA from a well-preserved Mammoth specimen found in the Siberian permafrost, and sent it to his research colleagues at Penn State, who had just taken possession of the latest technology in genome sequencing. Within hours, his colleagues reported that the machine had sequenced 30 million base pairs, about one percent of the entire Mammoth genome. At this rate, it will take a year to map the entire genome, says Poinar. Funding is currently being sought for the completion of this project.
"We were stunned," says Poinar. "We immediately understood the magnitude of this discovery. Once you successfully sequence a genome, there are a million interesting questions one can begin to address. To acquire the genome of an extinct species is a rare feat. With this level of genetic data we can begin to look at genes to determine what makes a Mammoth a Mammoth. We can finally understand the subtle differences between a Mammoth and its closest living relative, the Indian elephant, but more importantly our discovery means that recreating extinct hybrid animals is theoretically possible."
Woolly mammoths, which have become symbols of the Ice Age, died out 10,000 years ago.
"Naturally there are ethical issues that come with a discovery of this magnitude, and McMaster is already planning the first conference devoted to the ethics of bringing extinct organisms back to life," said Mamdouh Shoukri, vice-president research and international affairs. "We have an obligation as scientists to explore and maintain the responsible use of research."
McMaster University
"Mitochondria is so 1980s. It only allows you to look at the maternal side of evolution," says Poinar. "The nuclear DNA we've mapped gives us our first glimpse at both sides of evolution. We can sequence Neanderthals, animals, plants. Basically, if we find a well-preserved specimen, we can sequence its genome."
The discovery occurred when Poinar extracted DNA from a well-preserved Mammoth specimen found in the Siberian permafrost, and sent it to his research colleagues at Penn State, who had just taken possession of the latest technology in genome sequencing. Within hours, his colleagues reported that the machine had sequenced 30 million base pairs, about one percent of the entire Mammoth genome. At this rate, it will take a year to map the entire genome, says Poinar. Funding is currently being sought for the completion of this project.
"We were stunned," says Poinar. "We immediately understood the magnitude of this discovery. Once you successfully sequence a genome, there are a million interesting questions one can begin to address. To acquire the genome of an extinct species is a rare feat. With this level of genetic data we can begin to look at genes to determine what makes a Mammoth a Mammoth. We can finally understand the subtle differences between a Mammoth and its closest living relative, the Indian elephant, but more importantly our discovery means that recreating extinct hybrid animals is theoretically possible."
Woolly mammoths, which have become symbols of the Ice Age, died out 10,000 years ago.
"Naturally there are ethical issues that come with a discovery of this magnitude, and McMaster is already planning the first conference devoted to the ethics of bringing extinct organisms back to life," said Mamdouh Shoukri, vice-president research and international affairs. "We have an obligation as scientists to explore and maintain the responsible use of research."
McMaster University
Woolly Mammoth Current Events and Woolly Mammoth News RSS13,000 Clovis-era tool cache unearthed in Colorado shows evidence of camel, horse butchering
A biochemical analysis of a rare Clovis-era stone tool cache recently unearthed in the city limits of Boulder, Colo., indicates some of the implements were used to butcher ice-age camels and horses that roamed North America until their extinction about 13,000 years ago, according to a University of Colorado at Boulder study.
Woolly-Mammoth Gene Study Changes Extinction Theory
A large genetic study of the extinct woolly mammoth has revealed that the species was not one large homogenous group, as scientists previously had assumed, and that it did not have much genetic diversity.
Back to the future: Mastodon extends the time limit on DNA sequencing
In a new paper in the open access journal PLoS Biology, Michael Hofreiter from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, and colleagues from Switzerland and the United States, announce the sequencing of the complete mitochondrial genome of the mastodon (Mammut americanum), a recently extinct relative of the living elephants that diverged about 26 million years ago.
Ancient DNA traces the woolly mammoth's disappearance
Some ancient-DNA evidence has offered new clues to a very cold case: the disappearance of the last woolly mammoths, one of the most iconic of all Ice Age giants, according to a June 7th report published online in Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press.
Scientists sequence DNA of woolly mammoth
Experts in ancient DNA from McMaster University (Canada) have teamed up with genome researchers from Penn State University (USA) for the investigation of permafrost bone samples from Siberia.
Small species back-up giant marsupial climate change extinction claim
Thinking small in a time when everything was big has helped Queensland researchers to unearth new evidence that climate change, instead of humans, was responsible for wiping out Australian giant marsupials or megafauna 40,000 years ago.
Old bones unearth new date for giant deer's last stand
A new investigation into extinctions caused by climate change has revealed that the giant deer, previously thought to have been wiped out by a cold spell 10,500 years ago, instead survived well into the modern era.
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