Scientists are on the verge of the resurrection of the mammoth – Summary Ukrainian and World News

Scientists are on the verge of resurrection mammoths On the topic:

A careful analysis of the mammoth genome scientists has shown changes in the genes that allow these members of the family of elephant to survive at low temperatures of the last glacial period. This discovery is one step closer to the science of technical possibility to return to the planet of extinct animals.

On the basis of the genetic uniqueness of mammoths reported in the journal Cell Reports, Trend reports referring to.

Lynch Vincent (Vincent Lynch) from the University of Chicago and his colleagues conducted a deep sequencing of genomes of two mammoths and three Asian elephants – mammoths next of kin. All genomes are compared with each other and with the genome of the African elephant (representative of a kind of distant).

Genetics have identified about 1.4 million gene variants that are unique to mammoths. These options changed proteins produced about 1,600 genes. The researchers then turned to massive databases – to assess the function of genes and their influence on the life of the body.

It turned out that the characteristic changes in the mammoth genes have been linked to close only the metabolism of fat (including brown fat), insulin alarm, hair growth and development of the skin (including genes associated with lighter hair), sensation of temperature and circadian rhythm. All these properties of the organism have been important to adapt to the extreme cold and the polar night. Finally, researchers have identified the genes that determine the anatomical features of mammoths (shape of the skull, small ears and short tails).

Of particular interest to researchers is the group of genes responsible for the sensation of temperature, which also play an important role in the growth of hair the storing of fat. The scientists were able to reconstruct the ancient version of one of these genes (TRPV3). When transplanting it into human cells proved that TRPV3 mammoth produces a protein that reacts to heat is weaker than the one that is encoded version of the elephant TRPV3. Similarly, laboratory mice, in which the body has been disconnected TRPV3 artificially prefer cold rooms, and their hair is more wavy.

Although the functions of the genes identified by scientists generally well correlated with environmental conditions of mammoths, Lynch warns that only one genome is impossible to determine at what affect a particular gene.

«We can not know exactly about the action of these genes as someone resurrect live mammoth. However, some of what you might guess by laboratory experiments, “- said the scientist. Now, Lynch and his colleagues plan to express the proteins in the cells of mammoth elephants.

Although the aim is to study Lynch molecular basis of evolution, genetics recognizes that high quality sequencing and analysis of the genome of the mammoth could be the basis for the “resurrection” of ancient animals.

«From the time we got the technical ability to do so. But another question: whether or not to carry out such a thing? Personally, I think not. Mammoths are extinct, and the environment in which they lived, changed. There are many animals on the verge of extinction, requiring our help “, – concluded the geneticist.

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