A group of South Korean scientists plan to resurrect the extinct woolly mammoth through cloning so they can learn more about the species.
The woolly mammoth species is a close relative of the Asian elephant and is the same size of modern African elephants. Scientists believe that this species coexisted with humans during the last ice age but became extinct due to climate change, loss of habitat and hunting.
Scientists found several frozen specimens of the woolly mammoth, including some preserved soft tissue remains and DNA. Since then, a debate over resurrecting the species through cloning arose due to ethical concerns. Others object to the idea because Earth's current environmental condition is not suitable for the survival of the woolly mammoth.
The idea of cloning the woolly mammoth resurfaced after some Russian scientists found another mammoth specimen preserved in ice on a remote Siberian island in 2013. The specimen is an adult female, which they nicknamed "Buttercup," that walked the Earth some 40,000 years ago based on carbon dating. Its muscle tissues were well-preserved and contained fresh blood, according to The Independent.
Insung Hwang, a geneticist at Sooam, South Korea, is currently examining the blood samples of Buttercup to search for a cell with intact DNA.
"We're getting an unprecedented amount of access to mammoth samples through this collaboration. DNA has been distributed to multiple institutes for scientific purposes," Hwang said.
But, other experts warned the Korean scientists of the implications of their cloning plan which goes beyond the ethical concerns.
Tori Herridge, a palaeobiologist and mammoth specialist at the Natural History Museum in London, described the process as "cruel."
"The most fundamental step and ethical concern with this kind of procedure are that you need to have an Asian elephant surrogate mum at some point," she said, quoted by The Telegraph.
"Cloning a mammoth will require you to experiment on probably many, many Asian elephants."
