Thursday, March 13, 2025

The Obtain: Gene de-extinction, and Ukraine’s Starlink connection


This week noticed the discharge of some fascinating information about some very furry rodents—so-called “woolly mice”—created as a part of an experiment to discover how we would in the future resurrect the woolly mammoth.

The thought of bringing again extinct species has gained traction because of advances in sequencing of historical DNA. This historical genetic knowledge is deepening our understanding of the previous—as an example, by shedding gentle on interactions amongst prehistoric people. However researchers have gotten extra formidable. Reasonably than simply studying historical DNA, they wish to use it—by inserting it into dwelling organisms.

As a result of this concept is so new and attracting a lot consideration, I made a decision it could be helpful to create a document of earlier makes an attempt so as to add extinct DNA to dwelling organisms. And because the know-how doesn’t have a reputation, let’s give it one: “chronogenics.” Learn the complete story.

—Antonio Regalado

This text first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Know-how Evaluate’s weekly biotech e-newsletter. To obtain it in your inbox each Thursday, and browse articles like this primary, join right here

If you happen to’re curious about de-extinction, why not take a look at:

+ How a lot would you pay to see a woolly mammoth? We spoke to Sara Ord, director of species restoration at Colossal, the world’s first “de-extinction” firm, about its large ambitions.

+ Colossal can also be a de-extinction firm, which is making an attempt to resurrect the dodo. Learn the complete story.

+ DNA that was frozen for two million years has been sequenced. The traditional DNA fragments come from a Greenland ecosystem the place mastodons roamed amongst flowering vegetation. It might maintain clues to tips on how to survive a warming local weather.

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