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Scientists Reawaken Cells From a 28,000-Year-Old Mammoth (vice.com)
Cells from a woolly mammoth that died more than 28,000 years ago have been partially reactivated inside of mouse egg cells, according to a study published Monday in Scientific Reports. "The achievement shows that biological activity can be induced in the cells of long-dead creatures, but that does not mean that scientists will be resurrecting extinct animals like mammoths any time soon," reports Motherboard. From the report: A team led by Kazuo Yamagata, a biologist at Kindai University in Japan, extracted cells from the remains of "Yuka," a young female mammoth discovered in 2010 on the coast of the Dmitry Laptev Strait in the Russian Far East. Yuka was entombed in permafrost, a frozen ground layer that can often keep the skin, fur, brains, and other softer tissues of dead animals intact. Because Yuka is in particularly great condition, Yamagata's team was able to extract 88 nucleus-like structures from her preserved muscle tissues. The mammoth cells were implanted into mouse oocytes, which are ovarian cells involved in embryonic development. The researchers also implanted elephant cells into mouse eggs to provide a control sample.
Once the cell nuclei were incubated, they seemed to reawaken -- but only slightly. The cells did not divide, but completed some steps that precede cell division. For instance, the mammoth nuclei performed a process called "spindle assembly," which ensures that chromosomes are correctly attached to microscopic spindle structures before a parent cell breaks into two daughter cells. The fact that Yuka's cells were able to spring back into partial action is both an exciting and challenging development for scientists interested in cloning extinct animals. On one hand, some degree of cellular reactivation is clearly possible. But Yuka is also an exceptionally pristine specimen, and even her cells were not able to complete cell division -- a major hurdle that scientists must clear to accomplish de-extinction.
Once the cell nuclei were incubated, they seemed to reawaken -- but only slightly. The cells did not divide, but completed some steps that precede cell division. For instance, the mammoth nuclei performed a process called "spindle assembly," which ensures that chromosomes are correctly attached to microscopic spindle structures before a parent cell breaks into two daughter cells. The fact that Yuka's cells were able to spring back into partial action is both an exciting and challenging development for scientists interested in cloning extinct animals. On one hand, some degree of cellular reactivation is clearly possible. But Yuka is also an exceptionally pristine specimen, and even her cells were not able to complete cell division -- a major hurdle that scientists must clear to accomplish de-extinction.
Next Step: Mouse pregnant with mammoth embryo.
Welcome out new Wooly Mammoth Mouse overlords.
#obligatory
Coming Soon
"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should..."
There is no "quickening" or whatever. If the portion of the cell which are involved in division are intact and implemented in an a new environment with sufficient element and energy, it will happily do its reaction. The surprise is not that it happens. the surprise is that they managed to find part of the cell sufficiently intact for that to even be possible after so much time.
You can reawaken me after 28000 years.
I honestly don't know why we aren't already "manufacturing" endangered species. We have the technology to do so, but lack the political will to even think about undoing some of the damage we are doing to the global ecosystem.
I realize this is a bandaid and not a cure. But, it's better than allowing ourselves to force so many species into extinction because we can't control our impulses or greed.
A woolly mammoth the size of a mouse does not impress me.
will make for a pretty good zombie movie!
It's not even that old, just before W2K...
Maiya looked out wistfully over the horizon at the valley below. She leaned heavily on her walking stick carved from a mammoth shin bone and pulled back her sabertoothed tiger cowl. What changes this valley had seen over the past few decades. A few paces back, her son finally caught up with her and joined her in the view. "What was it like before they resurrected all the dinosaurs and ancient animals?" Maiya sighed heavily, eying the overgrowth that had swallowed a city that used to be called 'L.A.' She could hear in the distance the howls and screams of something fighting for its life. "Well, for one, we stepped in a lot less T-Rex shit."
Cells from a woolly mammoth that died more than 28,000 years ago have been partially reactivated inside of mouse egg cells
BRAINZZZZZ .... and cheese.
So, errr, like, what do you use -- a mousetrap? A mammoth trap? And it kills them? But, but they're already dead.
More like you'd get 'em more pissed than they were already. A mammoth-sized mouse is now upset with you. And here you thought your day was bad enough already.
If the universe is someone's simulation -- does that mean the stars are just stuck pixels?
Mammoth jerky! I can almost taste it already!
Uhmm ... I've seen this movie ...
Mmmm, pulled Mammoth Pork sandwiches.
It seems to me from this experiment they will learn a whole lot more about how to preserve cells for a long period of time than how to reawaken them.
12:50 - press return.
All they would have to do is get one cell to work all the way thru and they are good. They should try using a cell from an elephant to do the implanting.
Clearly what they need to do differently is to get rid of the mouse oocytes cells altogether. They have access to elephant oocyte cells. Put the mammoth's nucleus-like structures into elephant oocytes cells and see how far THAT goes.
Mouse oocytes cells will be too different to get you very far. Think of the DNA as the compiled software and the rest of the cell as the hardware that runs that DNA software. There will be too many things already in the mouse cell cytoplasm optimized and set up for mouse DNA, mouse RMA, mouse messenger RMA (mmRMA? :-), mouse cell wall structures, and other mouse proteins in the cell already that just shoving in a mammoth nucleus isn't going to "just work", even if you somehow managed to "jumpstart" transcription and translation of the mammoth DNA. That software won't run very far on that hardware.
>the mammoth nuclei performed a process called "spindle assembly," which ensures
>that chromosomes are correctly attached to microscopic spindle structures before a
>parent cell breaks into two daughter cells
Right there you're going to have problems. Mouse cells have 40 chromosomes. Mammoth cells have 58. Just google "spindle assembly" and the first link is
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096098221201189X
which has enough details in the first paragraph to tell you that having the wrong number of chromosomes from what the rest of the cell expects is going to be a non-starter for cell division whether it is mitosis or meiosis.
And, yeah, elephant cells (with 56 chromosomes) probably won't magically "just work" either, but they would be a better starting point for cell modifications to get to something that will work with the mammoth DNA. (My guess: get the oocyte to divide into an ovum and then mechanically move over the missing chromosome to the ovum's nucleus, and throw in a mammoth mitochondria, and (wave hands!) recalibrate everything for 56 chromosomes... then find some mammoth sperm that was well preserved.)
I suspect they knew all along that this wasn't going to work and produce a mammoth, but they wanted to see how far it would work before something breaks, and mouse cell are very well understood in the biology world so finding the point of breakage and understanding what broke would be easier. Plus, doing the whole experiment all over a second time with elephant cells means a second publication with your name on it. :-)
Once the technique is perfectioned, you will be able to get some little Einsteins and Hittlers walking around
... get to be desirable, even when it comes to reviving mammoths. After all, what would be the point of reviving an old male ?
There have got to be one or two of the poor guys frozen in the tundra somewhere.
The mouse became scared of itself.
"Evil will always triumph over good, because good is dumb." - Dark Helmet (Spaceballs)
A trunk for every hole :)
You know it is cumming.
"A mammoth-sized mouse"
The rodents of unusual size? I don't believe they exist.
Eloi are stupid, throw morlocks at them!
Will the world end in Parasite Eve, Skynet, or Heavy Weather?
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Scientists awaken 28,000 year old cell phone!
Bitterly disappointed,
Penge
Finally someone has made exciting advancements in the field. I propose we being to pool efforts to advance this quickly due to it's amazing medical applications. We can start by putting all the scientists in one major facility and managing them under a single Umbrella Corporation.
De-extinction is rife with seemingly intractable problems. Going to locate and clone a sufficient number of unique preserved specimens to avoid inbreeding? What about reproducing its entire exterior/interior microbiome - especially the essential gut flora?
I am not a number - I am a free man!
I am pretty sure this is how the cultists summoned Cthulhu.
Somebody must have got to it first, and stolen the ear bone that contains the viable cells.
.....Only a matter of time
All I hear is Orangefansad