Scientists clone well-preserved ancient bison found in permafrost.
Russian North-Eastern Federal University (NEFU) recently announced through official channels that it plans to clone an extinct ancient bison believed to have been active about 8,000 to 9,000 years ago.
The bison specimen was discovered last year in Russia’s Verkhoyansk region, which is said to be the coldest city in the world. Shortly thereafter, it was donated to the NEFU Mammoth Museum Research Institute located in Yakutsk.
The research team here noted that although the bison specimen remains partially intact, the head, forelimbs and parts of the chest are very well preserved. As long as the main organs were not rotten, it was judged that it would be possible to clone an ancient bison if done well.
The bovine bison has been around for about 2 million years. There are two extant species, and six extinct species have been identified so far. This bison sample is an extinct species that has not been reported to the academic world so far.
An official of the research team said, “It is possible that this bison was a 1-2 year old individual that survived about 8000 to 9000 years ago.” We will be able to get information.”
After confirming the cloning, the research team had already autopsied and dismembered the bison sample. During this process, muscle, skin, and soft tissue samples were taken. The head was opened and the brain removed. The research team who looked into each tissue believes that it is in good condition and can be cloned.
An official from the research team said, “Because the place where it was discovered is permafrost, the tissue has been preserved in a very good condition. Considering this, replication using DNA will be carried out without difficulty.”
The team was confident of cloning, but recreating an extinct creature that has been buried under ice for thousands of years is very difficult. In order for an animal to be cloned, intact chromosomes must be found, and even perfectly preserved specimens often have chromosomes fragmented into millions of pieces.
Last year, biologists succeeded in cloning mice from freeze-dried cells, but these cells were only frozen for nine months, not 8,000 or 9,000 years. In this respect, it can be assumed that cloning of already extinct animals is very difficult.
On the other hand, regarding NEFU’s cloning of bison, Hwang Woo-seok, former professor at Seoul National University, said, “Attempting cloning with tissue from an extinct animal was only possible thanks to collaboration with NEFU’s excellent research team.” Professor Hwang Jeon, who caused a stir in Korea for manipulating stem cell research, is currently working at the UAE Biotechnology Research Foundation.
Reporter Yoonseo Lee lys@sputnik.kr
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