Science & Technology - Posted by Jocelyn Duffy-Carnegie Mellon on Wednesday, May 5, 2010 6:16 - 9 Comments 
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
Loading ...
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5) Loading ...It’s alive! Mammoth blood resurrected
An international team of researchers has sequenced hemoglobin genes from the DNA of three permafrost preserved wooly mammoths that lived between 25,000 and 43,000 years ago. Scientists were able to convert a plasmid containing the genetic information from Asian elephant hemoglobin into one identical to that of a woolly mammoth. The plasmids were then inserted into modern-day E. coli bacteria, which faithfully manufactured the mammoth protein. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
CARNEGIE-MELLON (US)—Hemoglobin from an authentic woolly mammoth has been given new life by an international team of researchers.
Share this article
Email
Republish this article
The text of this article by Futurity is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License.
“We’ve managed to analyze living attributes of an animal that hasn’t existed for thousands of years,” says team leader Kevin Campbell of the University of Manitoba. “This is quite amazing, given that biochemical features do not fossilize.”
“It has been remarkable to bring a complex protein from an extinct species back to life and discover important changes not found in any living species,” adds collaborator Alan Cooper, director of the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA at the University of Adelaide. “This is true paleobiology.”
The team sequenced hemoglobin genes from the DNA of three permafrost-preserved Siberian mammoths that lived between 25,000 and 43,000 years ago. Details were published April 2 in the journal Nature Genetics.
The genetic codes were sent to Chien Ho, professor of biological sciences at Carnegie Mellon University.
Using recombinant DNA methods, Ho and his colleague, Tong-Jian Shen, were able to convert a plasmid containing the genetic information from Asian elephant hemoglobin into one identical to that of a woolly mammoth.
The plasmids were inserted into modern-day E. coli bacteria, which then faithfully manufactured the mammoth protein. “This is a very powerful way to study evolution,” Ho says.
“The resulting hemoglobin molecules are no different than ‘going back in time’ and taking a blood sample from a real mammoth,” explains Campbell.
“This is the first time we’ve been able to study biological processes of an extinct animal in precisely the same way we would for living species.”
Team member Roy Weber at the University of Aarhus, Denmark, tested the “revived” mammoth proteins and confirmed that three highly unusual changes in the hemoglobin sequence allowed mammoth blood to deliver oxygen to cells even at very low temperatures, something living elephant blood is unable to do.
This indicates that mammoths, which initially evolved in tropical Africa, developed a natural adaptation to the harsh Arctic environment that allowed them to cool down their extremities and minimize costly heat loss.
“This is one piece of the puzzle as to how these animals moved into and survived the extreme conditions of the Arctic,” says Campbell.
“Our approach opens the way to understand how, at the molecular level, extinct species adapted to paleoenvironments that are no longer present on Earth.”
More Carnegie Mellon University news: www.cmu.edu/news/
Please wait
9 Comments
Johnny Wellington
terry
Eventually, is there any reason that mammoths could not be reintroduced into their former natural habitat in Eurasia and North America?
sido islwyn
fascinating!
It makes my blood run cold. But maybe I could be resurrected and come back as a Mammoth. Not a hairy one because I’m bald :) Anyway, fascinating story!
Interesting but what is the benefit of this knowledge to society? Are resources being used that could be applied to finding a cure for arthritis or some other debilitating disease?
ALZ
to Hieke: ever thought what if human kind ever needs a modfied hemoglobin as a gen treatment to survive nature?.. wouldnt that be life saver? there is also military or ecological benefits to obtein from its patent, money that could then be sent to make further studies in other more practical areas. This is a big step for human kind science, and huge one for nature (to oversee death and extinction)
Rob
Heike, why bother with science if you’re only interested in solving a specific problem, rather than expand your horizons? Who knows where this could lead…human hibernation for space flight, adapting cattle to use less resources but produce as much meat, or something completely different? Once you consider they can do this for other proteins, then this is just a starting point for a whole new future. Right now we’re losing thousands of species globally, some of which could be important to medicine or material sciences. If we can at least save their DNA, then we have a sligthly better chance of utilizing their value. Better to save the living species, but that’s not possible too often today.
Valerio
I think I see here the script for Jurassic Park part 1.
Me parece estar vieno el libreto de Jurasic Park 1 parte.
Rizzo
Who wins? Ditka or a Mammoth?
So, when do we trade in our cars for wooly mammoths?