Scientist have genetically modified mice to have key characteristics of a much larger extinct animal, the woolly Mammoth. Scientists are trying to revive woolly mammoths and bring them back from extinction. The mice already are adapting to the changes by having a woolly coat, longer hair, and changing the hair color. These mice may be able to survive in the extreme cold with the special way of how they digest fat and use it to stay warm. They are going to use this DNA and put it in Asian elephants to try and revive the woolly mammoth.
The gene that targets hair growth called FGF5 (fibroblast growth factor 5) made the mouse have long shaggy hair and curled whiskers. This company called colossus is working on the ability to edit multiple genes and in this case they are editing the mouse with mammoth genes. These mice may have cold resistance from the mammoth genes. They are using mice because we know much more about mice than we do about woolly mammoths making it easier for them to test on.
Colossus is planning on genetically modifying an Asian elephant to have woolly Mammoth traits and DNA in its system bringing back the woolly mammoth. Colossus is planning on the first woolly Mammoth calf being born by 2028. Colossus is scared about the species because there will be very few of them alive and it will cost a lot of money to keep them alive and thriving.
CEO Ben Lamn said “By engineering multiple cold-tolerant traits from mammoth evolutionary pathways into a living model species, we’ve proven our ability to recreate complex genetic combinations that took nature millions of years to create.” This lets us know that we could possibly bring back other creatures and animals that are extinct also.
Woolly mice are the next step into bringing back the woolly Mammoth. These mice give us hope that we will be able to make woolly Mammoths back successfully because of how well the mice did. Woolly mice are mice that have been given woolly Mammoth genes.
Related Stories
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/04/science/woolly-mouse-mammoth-resurrection-colossal/index.html
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/mar/04/genetically-modified-woolly-mice-mammoth
https://colossal.com/scientists-have-bred-woolly-mice-on-their-journey-to-bring-back-the-mammoth/
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0jg4n776evo
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