Scientists, in a way, want to revive the woolly mammoth. And they also have a bold idea why the extinct animal should be good for our earth.
Moscow – Mammoths with massive build and long tusks are supposed to stomp through Siberia again. This idea is not new. However, it could now become a reality faster than expected if the bold ideas of US researchers go.
The problem is: these animals have been extinct for thousands of years. Scientists from the USA now want to use genetic engineering to resurrect a kind of woolly mammoth. If everything goes according to plan, even in six years. According to their own statements, they have now collected the start-up capital for this. But there is great skepticism among experts.
The project of the genetic researcher George Church from Harvard University in Cambridge is taking shape according to his own account. For a few days, a start-up called Colossal has been taking care of the ambitious and at the same time controversial plans. “Extinction is a colossal problem that the world is facing,” reads the newly activated website.
“We have the DNA, the technology and the leading experts in the field,” it continues. Church has been promoting the idea of reviving the extinct species for years. So far he has not had the money for it. According to US media, investors have pledged $ 15 million to implement the project.
The first calf could be born in 2027
Church thinks it is realistic that the first calf could be born in 2027, as he told the US broadcaster CNBC. Strictly speaking, no woolly mammoth is created as it had lived in the cold regions of Eurasia and North America before its extinction. “The aim is to create a cold-resistant elephant that will look and behave like a mammoth.” A surrogate mother is then supposed to carry the hybrid mammoth to term.
According to Church, cells from the threatened Asian elephant are to be combined with prehistoric genes found in the mammoth. For this purpose, the experts want to use new technologies such as the CRISPR-Cas9 gene scissors, with which DNA can be cut in a targeted manner.
“It is intended to insert several mammoth genes into the DNA of Asian elephants, for example for thick fur and additional layers of fat,” says paleontologist Victoria Herridge to “Spiegel” and speaks of an “extremely complicated” procedure.
According to Church’s earlier information, there is insufficient genetic material from a mammoth to clone it. With the thawing permafrost soil, remains of the once huge animals are found again and again. However, blood, tissue or the remains of genetic material recently exposed in tusks have so far only given researchers a glimpse into evolution – but not helped to clone mammoths.
According to researchers, mammoths are useful for the Arctic
In any case, the question arises why the animals should roam the Arctic again at all. Church claims that mammoths could help the permafrost soil melt less quickly and thereby prevent the release of climate-damaging greenhouse gases in the frozen soils. According to the expert, the mammoths would pound the snow and make it difficult to thaw the soil. But there are doubts about the theory.
The animals could be settled in Nikita Simow’s park. The Russian scientist heads a huge nature reserve in northeast Siberia not far from the Arctic Ocean. He warns against exaggerated expectations: “The chance that everything will be perfect right away are slim.”
“Mammoths are not needed to fight climate change directly,” says Simow of the Deutsche Presse-Aentur. Rather, large herbivorous mammals contribute to making arctic landscapes more diverse and more resilient as pastureland. This could influence climate change.
For Guido Grosse from the Alfred Wegener Institute in Potsdam, this approach is understandable – and he refers to experiences in Simow’s Pleistocene Park. “There is good evidence for this on a small scale, we are involved in such studies ourselves.”
Researchers are skeptical about theories
However, the permafrost expert has doubts that this will stop the thawing of the frozen ground. “We are talking about millions of square kilometers of permafrost region that would have to be populated by an enormously high density of animals.” It would take too long until the corresponding number of animals were to be found. “The warming would then have progressed too far in the Arctic.” Other researchers have expressed similar skepticism.
Gareth Phoenix from the University of Sheffield, England, believes it is a disadvantage that only grass and no trees would grow in the areas populated by mammoths. “We know that trees and moss in the forested Arctic regions can be crucial for protecting permafrost,” says the professor at the Guardian newspaper.
“It is and remains absolutely essential: The fossil emissions from coal, oil and natural gas must be stopped – and as quickly as possible,” says Grosse, who sees this as the most important measure in the fight against climate change. Fossil fuels have so far had the largest share in the rise in the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere and thus in the warming.
Simow: Mammoths won’t harm people
Even if US genetic researcher Church succeeds in making a breakthrough, the Russian scientist Lena Grigoryeva is far from certain that the animals will be able to survive in the wild in the long term. In order to produce offspring, for example, the ecosystem of the animals would have to be restored, says the paleontologist on the specialist portal “News of Science from Siberia”. Even the polar bears have to go further and further south in search of food because the ice is no longer thick enough to hunt seals.
The Russian researcher Simov wants to rule out at least one thing: that mammoths could be dangerous to humans. “They will not harm anyone.” He is sure that the population could also be kept under control “in the modern world”. dpa
