Mammoth remains are found across the steppe on which they once roamed.
Sometimes, the preservation is stunning.
In 2022, for example, animmaculately preserved mammoth calfwas found in a Yukon gold mine.
A well-preserved mammoth foot, in which scientists found preserved mammoth chromosomes.Photo: Love Dalén, Stockholm University
But the recent discovery revealed preservation on an entirely different scale: a molecular one.
The teams research waspublishedtoday inCell.
How did chromosomes survive for so long?
Mammoth skin, in which mammoth chromosomes were found. © Photo by Love Dalén, Stockholm University
The research team could actually see the genetic loops that managed whether a certain gene was expressed.
This sample freeze dried, forming a kind of beef jerky, Leiberman Aiden said.
Beef jerky ismeat thats undergone glass transition, making it durable.
A 3D animation of the mammoth chromosomes.Gif: Vinicius Contessoto, Antonio Oliveira Jr., José Onuchic
The quality of the remains enabled the first genome assembly in an extinct species, the researchers said.
Mammoths had 28 chromosomes, just like an elephant (and unlike us humans, who have 23).
The team reconstructed the mammoth chromosomes in 3D; to us, it looks like a Gordian knot.
© Aviva Aiden, Thomas Griggs, Erez Aiden
Just having that footprint of the chromatin organization in three-dimensional space is incredible.
Despite the material becoming fragmented, the chromosomal structure of the stuff remained intact on a microscopic scale.
We suspect many more will be found in the coming years.
The new findings reveal never-before-seen molecular preservation in ancient remains.
What can scientists do with flash-frozen chromosomes?
Nevertheless, the team emphasized that de-extinction is a difficult process and not the goal of their research.
This is about our ability to learn from the past.
Scientists can better understand elephant genetics using mammoth chromosomes.
But so too can elephant genetics inform scientists understandings of the mammoth.
Besides the Asian elephant, AI tools can contextualize the mammoth genome on the tree of life.
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