This week saw the release of some fascinating news about some very furry rodents—so-called “woolly mice”—created as part of an experiment to explore how we might one day resurrect the woolly mammoth.
The idea of bringing back extinct species has gained traction thanks to advances in sequencing of ancient DNA. This ancient genetic data is deepening our understanding of the past—for instance, by shedding light on interactions among prehistoric humans. But researchers are becoming more ambitious. Rather than just reading ancient DNA, they want to use it—by inserting it into living organisms.
Because this idea is so new and attracting so much attention, I decided it would be useful to create a record of previous attempts to add extinct DNA to living organisms. And since the technology doesn’t have a name, let’s give it one: “chronogenics.” Read the full story.
—Antonio Regalado
This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here.
If you’re interested in de-extinction, why not check out:
+ How much would you pay to see a woolly mammoth? We spoke to Sara Ord, director of species restoration at Colossal, the world’s first “de-extinction” company, about its big ambitions.
+ Colossal is also a de-extinction company, which is trying to resurrect the dodo. Read the full story.
+ DNA that was frozen for 2 million years has been sequenced. The ancient DNA fragments come from a Greenland ecosystem where mastodons roamed among flowering plants. It may hold clues to how to survive a warming climate.