Researchers have now decoded two Woolly mammoth DNAs to find more clues about how and why they went extinct. The iconic mammoths already had a large loss in genetic diversity before they died. Researchers from Canada, Russia, Sweden, and Sweden published their first complete genome sequences from ancient mammoth samples in Current Biology. The specimen, which is believed to be the oldest woolly mammoth species on Wrangel Island in Russia, lived approximately 4 ,300years ago. Another specimen was discovered in Northeastern Siberia. It is estimated that it is 44,800 old. Eleftheria Palkopoulou holds a mammoth skull in an ancient DNA laboratory at the Swedish Museum of Natural History. (Credit: Love Dalen. Photo by Eurekalert. The most recent one showed much less genetic variation. It also had large amounts of DNA that were virtually unaltered – evidence it was part of a small population of mammoths who unavoidably interbred with each other. Love Dalen (from the Swedish Museum of Natural History) said that co-author. “We discovered that one of the oldest mammoths in the world had low genetic variation. This is likely because of the fact that only a few mammoths survived on Wrangel Island over the past 5 year. It’s difficult to sequence ancient genomes. They work at both the Swedish Museum of Natural History and Stockholm University. Most cases of DNA contamination are highly fragmented and damaged. Two mammoth DNA samples were found after extensive screening. Each animal’s genome is made up of many bits and pieces from DNA passed down through hundreds of generations. It is possible to collect a lot of information about a species’ population history from a single genome. From DNA data, the scientists inferred that woolly mammoth populations declined considerably in the Middle or Early Pleistocene, between 250,000 and 300,000 years ago. It is unclear why this happened. The woolly mammoth was further affected by the glaciation’s end, which led to its decline. It never recovered from this decline. Love Dalen and a Siberia woolly mammoth trunk. Palkopoulou stated that only by creating high-quality genomes can we find population-size fluctuations far back in history. This revealed two major population declines in the history of the woolly mammoth. Dalen stated that “Sequencing genomes of extinct species will help us better understand their biology and history, and can provide valuable information about how and why these species became extinct.” In her book, “How to Clone a Mammoth”, Beth Shapiro is an associate professor of ecology at the University of California Santa Cruz. She says that it’s possible to bring back extinct species like the mammoth. You can clone any species as long as your genome has been decoded. For example, we cannot clone dinosaurs because of their lost DNA. There are some species that have been extinct for a while, like passenger pigeons and gastric-brooding Frogs. However, it is possible to do something with them. Professor Shapiro stated that “I doubt if this is something we should be doing at all.” This was for ethical and ecological reasons. Because science fiction is so prevalent, I try to distinguish science fact from science fiction. Current Biology. Published 23 April 2015. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.04.007. Video: Mapping of Woolly mammoth genomes A conversation with Love Dalen, a scientist at the Swedish Museum of Natural History to explain the results.
