Woolly Mammoth To Return To This Generation In 2027, Says Resurrector

The woolly mammoth, extinct for millennia, is being primed to walk the planet again in just four years. Through gene editing, a “de-extinction” lab called Colossal hopes to reincarnate the creature as a mammoth effort against climate change.

The Dallas biotech startup’s elephant-sized plans have been no secret, but an additional US$60 million in funding from last year has purportedly accelerated the woolly mammoth’s rebirth to 2027. Following the woolly mammoth, Colossal intends to revive the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, from extinction.

The theatrics aren’t the focus here. Rather, Colossal is aiming to reintroduce the ancient mammal into the Arctic, where the creature once trotted on, to help restore the ecosystem’s health.

The gene-edited woolly mammoth will essentially be a “cold-resistant elephant” but still behave like its supposed ancestors, co-founder Dr George Church, PhD, told the Guardian in September 2021.

“It will walk like a woolly mammoth, look like one, sound like one, but most importantly it will be able to inhabit the same ecosystem previously abandoned by the mammoth’s extinction,” the company elaborates on its website.

It helps greatly that the woolly mammoth shares 99.6% of DNA with the Asian elephant, whose cells are the ones being genetically engineered, with some well-preserved woolly mammoth DNA, to resuscitate the long-extinct beast. 

“In the minds of many, this creature is gone forever. But not in the minds of our scientists,” Colossal details.

Interestingly, both woolly mammoths and Asian elephants walked the same continent at the same time, the company adds.

Through gene-editing technology called CRISPR, Colossal will develop an elephant-mammoth hybrid embryo and transfer it to an African elephant, which is larger than the Asian elephant and will be a better surrogate for the mammoth.

The resulting creature will take on key characteristics of the mammoth, like its hair and insulating fat layers. Importantly, it will happily weather -40ºF temperatures with no issues.

The herbivore ancestors used to graze on various plants and trees in the Arctic, kicking up the ice pack and ultimately stimulating plant growth. Without the mammals’ disruption today, many plants have lost their ability to flourish in an icy climate and absorb excess carbon, Harlow Goodwin pens in a Medium article.

Both elephants and mammoths have been found to enjoy knocking over trees, a move scientists believe is crucial for saving the disappearing grasslands of the Arctic. Colossal describes the woolly mammoth as a “vital defender of the earth.”

Initially, the lab planned to reintroduce the animal back into Siberia, Russia. With the shifting political landscape, though, it is now reconsidering this.

Ultimately, Colossal hopes this “vital defender” will help repopulate parts of the Arctic through its migration patterns and dietary habits.

[via Popular Mechanics, Harlow Goodwin / Medium, Colossal, images via various sources]