More than 4,000 years have passed since the last mammoth disappeared from the face of the earth. However, if a team of scientists' speculations come true, perhaps within four years, these gentle behemoths will once again roam the plains of North America.
According to British media news on October 3, Ben · Ram, CEO and founder of Colossal Biosciences, now confidently declares that he is "convinced" that the first mammoth cub will be born by the end of 2028.
1. The technical path of the mammoth's resurrection
Reviving an extinct species is undoubtedly an extremely challenging task, so how do you bring a mammoth back to life? Mr. Ram told MailOnline, "I like to think of what we're doing as a reverse Jurassic Park. ”
In the classic movie "Jurassic Park", scientists resurrect dinosaurs by recovering ancient DNA frozen in amber, and use genes extracted from frogs to patch holes in dinosaur DNA. But researchers at Colossal Biosciences have taken the opposite approach.
"Instead of taking the mammoth's DNA and filling in the gaps, we're trying to implant the mammoth's lost genes into Asian elephants," Mr. Ram explains. ”
Asian elephants are extremely closely related to mammoths, with their genomes 95% identical, and are even closer to these extinct megafauna than to African elephants. By delving into the differences between mammoths and their closest living relatives, scientists at Colossal Biosciences identified several "genes of interest."
These genes act like a key factor in biological programming that determines whether an organism will eventually become an elephant or a mammoth.
Thanks to tremendous advances in gene editing technologies such as CRISPR, scientists are now able to extract these target genes and insert them directly into the DNA of modern elephants.
For example, they could extract the ancient gene that gave mammoths their wool-like coats and then implant them into Asian elephants. "You can think of DNA as a twisted ladder, with each little rung being a base pair," Mr. Ram describes vividly. We were able to change every step of the ladder, and now we also have the ability to design new parts of the ladder we want. ”
After such gene editing, the resulting mixed elephant and mammoth DNA can be used to create "pluripotent stem cells". This cell is amazing, it has the potential to transform into any tissue.
Subsequently, these cells can be induced to become viable embryos of the mammoth's genetic program. Scientists hope to implant these artificial embryos into Asian elephants, which will allow them to conceive and eventually give birth to a live mammoth.
2. Other relevant species in the resurrection plan and their timing expectations
In fact, mammoths may not have been the first creature to be resurrected from extinction by Colossal Biosciences. The company is also trying to resurrect the 17th-century dodo, which was on the verge of extinction, as well as the Tasmanian tiger (also known as the thylacine).
Because Tasmanian tigers and dodos have much shorter gestation periods, they are likely to return from the brink of extinction more quickly. While Mr. Ram did not say which extinct creatures would return first, he added: "I don't know if mammoths will be the first project to be completed." ”
Regarding the timing of the birth of mammoth cubs, Mr. Ram said: "We have set a timeline for the first batch of mammoth cubs to be born by the end of 2028 and we are currently on track. ”
Despite the difficulties associated with the project, Mr. Ram was confident that the company would be able to meet the deadlines set. After all, the company has sequenced the mammoth genome and found a way to produce elephant pluripotent stem cells, and the rest is mostly a gene-editing process, which adds the gene of the target mammoth to the elephant's DNA.
3. Resurrected mammoth use and habitat planning
When people are curious about what to do after resurrecting these mammoths, Mr. Ram said: "It's funny, people sometimes ask, 'What do you do when you come to the end of your life and give birth to a mammoth?' But we're just getting started, and we're not even in the first chapter. Once we got them, the work began. ”
He stresses that the company's real success goal is to create genetically diverse, hybridizable herds that can build sustainable populations in the wild. Mr Ram's vision of giant bioscience bears more resemblance to the release of beavers in United Kingdom by modern environmentalists than to Jurassic Park.
Releasing any animal into the wild, though, requires a large tract of land. Mr Ram revealed the company had had some "early talks" with northern states in the United States, including Alaska, as well as Canada about potential mammoth habitat.
Similarly, they are looking for suitable sites for the release of dodos in Mauritius and the release of thylacines in Tasmania. However, the final confirmation of the sites of the first resurrected extinct species may not be until later next year.
4. Safety considerations for the resurrection plan
No one is really worried that resurrected mammoths and dodos will attack tourists, but that doesn't mean Colossal Biosciences' project is risk-free. More than 5,000 years have passed since the last mammoths disappeared from North America, and the environment has changed dramatically.
When asked about these concerns, Mr. Ram told MailOnline, "We have to have the data, and we have to collect and measure it thoughtfully. But ultimately some of them are still in the modeling stage, and I can't say with a clear conscience that any modeling, built by scientists or non-scientists associated with Colossal, can provide 100% accuracy. ”
Still, Mr. Ram insists he is not concerned about the risk of reintroducing large mammals such as mammoths. He noted that it could be evaluated by studying the proxy method of rewilding and observing its effects.
For example, studies of the reintroduction of bison in Yellowstone National Park and the United Kingdom found that the reintroduction of native megafauna resulted in sustained improvements in biodiversity. Based on these encouraging results, Mr. Ram believes that bringing mammoths back to life could have an equally positive impact. "We believe that, overall, a more diverse ecosystem is a better ecosystem," he said. ”
5. The deep meaning of resurrecting the mammoth
So why bring the mammoth back?
Mr. Ram believes that part of the motivation for saving these iconic creatures from extinction is to "erase the sins of the past".
"All the data suggest that early anthropological pressures from early humans led to the extinction of mammoths and that we wiped out these species," he noted. ”
While the role of humans in the mammoth extinction is not as clear as Mr. Ram suggests, the picture is clear for dodos and thylacines. Due to overhunting and habitat destruction, these two creatures were completely wiped out in a very short period of time. If scientists can restore them to their natural habits, it may be the first step in correcting humanity's most glaring environmental wrongs.
In addition, Colossal Biosciences' focus is not entirely on the past.
"We have a huge opportunity to shift to conservation because if you can set up these systems to process ancient DNA, it's much easier to deal with non-ancient DNA," Mr. Ram explained. The company is now valued at £1.3 billion ($1.7 billion) and has raised a further £38 million ($50 million) to launch the Colossal Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting conservation.
At a time when biodiversity is under constant threat, Mr. Ram is convinced that humanity needs a "toolkit for resurrecting extinct species".
"Species conservation is a systemic issue, it's no different from software, just like software, you need to back up all species," he said. ”
Colossal Biosciences has begun experimenting with the technology developed in mammoths to protect the only two remaining northern white rhinos. Mr. Ram believes that with just the few remaining genetic samples, a self-sustaining rhino breeding population can be created.
He concluded: "I don't think Jurassic Park has the right conservation perspective. This is not only to preserve genetic genes, but also to increase genetic diversity in a way that can be exploited. ”