Coming as if from some science fiction, woolly mammoths may walk this Earth again. The giants, now extinct, which roamed Earth thousands of years ago are the focus of an ambitious project by Colossal Biosciences. This innovative company comes from Harvard geneticist George Church and entrepreneur Ben Lamm to work on the revival of the species through advanced genetic engineering. Their goal? The stated goal is to create a hybrid of the woolly mammoth and its closest living relative, the Asian elephant, by means of advanced CRISPR gene-editing technology.
The team hopes to create, by introducing the essential mammoth features, shaggy hair, and a thick layer of into the DNA of the Asian elephant, an elephant that could survive cold climates. It would result in a “cold-resistant” elephant that resembles, behaves like, and as successfully as the mammoths which once roamed across the expansive Arctic tundras.
It has been variously described as a “reverse Jurassic Park” by Ben Lamm-although for him, this would be a positive thing.
“Instead of bringing back predators, as in the movie, we’re trying to bring back an ecosystem engineer,”
said Lamm. To anyone other than himself, it may have sounded like the chaos of Michael Crichton’s famous fictional tale, but this is, according to him, groundbreaking science with huge environmental dividends at its best. Colossal Biosciences hopes to be able to produce its first hybrid mammoth by 2028-a game-changing event that ushers in a new era for conservation and biodiversity.
Because mammoth DNA is incomplete and degraded after millennia, what scientists are actually doing is spotting and re-creating specific mammoth genes that made the animal capable of living in extremely cold environments. These are then incorporated into the DNA of Asian elephants, their closest living relatives, which share 99.5 percent of their genetic code with woolly mammoths.
“We are not just completing the gaps of the ancient DNA, “
Lamm said, against the comparisons with the sci-fi storyline.
“We are creating a new species able to live in modern times, mainly in the Arctic after the effects hopefully positive-of the mammoths’ presence.”
Indeed, people advocate that reintroducing such mammoth-like creatures into the Siberian Arctic could have significant environmental benefits. These animals could bring back the grasslands, an essential habitat that was erased after the extinction of mammoths.
By trampling down trees and shrubs, the mammoths would encourage the growth of grasses, which could help in turn to reduce permafrost melt, slowing the release of the greenhouse gases stored in the frozen ground. Thus, this could contribute to combating climate change.
“That means, in theory, these animals do a job to manipulate ecosystems according to natural processes,”
Lamm added.
“Mammoths once were keystone species in the Arctic and bringing them back could help put some balance into that environment.”
The woolly mammoths are not the only one Colossal Biosciences is planning to resurrect. It’s got its eyes on species like the Tasmanian tiger and the dodo bird. For Lamm, those projects could go even faster than the mammoth one, sometimes in several weeks, or months for some species. The Tasmanian tiger, which went extinct in the 1980s, and the dodo, which has not been seen since the 1600s could be the next to join the growing list of “de-extinction” projects.
“Given that the gestation period is much shorter for other species, we may see them brought back before the mammoth,”
duly added Lamm. The mammoth remains the most high-profile target because of its potential impact on the environment.
But not everyone is thrilled with the prospect. Dr. Victoria Herridge, an evolutionary biologist, has spoken out doubting how practical it would be to release creatures of its genetic makeup into the wild.
“Even if we can bring them back, can we release in a way that makes a difference to the environment? ”
she asked.
Besides, the number of mammoths needed to rehabilitate ecosystems would be enormous. The actual logistics in breeding these animals in sufficient numbers may also be a problem given the 22-month gestation period of the mammoth. Herridge and those holding more skeptical opinions also express concern about the ethics regarding de-extinction:
“Whether we should try to resurrect this one or any other lost species when plenty of living ones are at risk of extinction because of human actions”.
Furthermore, the sex risks from hybrid animals interacting with modern ecosystems are still unknown. As de-extinction technologies continue to improve, they could provide new avenues for biodiversity conservation.
Bringing back species like the woolly mammoth is still quite an experimental science. Still, the project underlines some of the most salient questions about the future of conservation: will de-extinction become a tool for restoring lost ecosystems and even combating climate change, or is it going to remain simply a scientific curiosity-a means for stirring more ethical dilemmas than environmental solutions?
