The woolly mammoth is probably the single most iconic extinct mammal, leading to seemingly never-ending efforts to resurrect it. To do that, however, scientists will need a good understanding of their genetics, and that’s difficult when the last meaningful population died out tens of thousands of years ago.
Now, scientists have published incredible findings from a Siberian mammoth they’ve named Yuka, revealing that they’ve found mostly intact RNA that can be dated to around 40,000 years old. It’s an astonishing discovery that could change mammoth biology and, more importantly, our understanding of how RNA evolved in the first place.
Now, if you’re thinking back to prior finds of intact mammoth genetic material, let me assure you that you’re not losing your mind. There have been several discoveries of mammoth DNA, most notably of 1.2 million-year-old mammoth DNA preserved in a tooth, which was also found in Siberia.
The difference is that the genetic material found here is RNA, not DNA. RNA serves very different purposes in the cell, mostly enacting genetic code rather than storing it, and it is classically thought of as being much less stable. So, while this RNA is “only” about 40,000 years old, that’s still an astonishing lifetime for the delicate, classically transient molecules.
Workers carry the body of Yuka, a woolly mammoth, on October 28, 2014.
Credit: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images
What this means is that the breakthrough isn’t primarily about revealing the woolly mammoth genes, but about providing a partial, freeze-framed snapshot of cellular activity around the time of death. That is, in many ways, a much more interesting thing to find; the researchers even found that they could discern tissue-specific gene expression, giving them incredible insight into mammoth biology.
That could help with the quest to resurrect the mammoth, which is generally spearheaded by the company Colossal. It’s really more focused on genetically engineering highly mammoth-like elephants into existence… but close enough. Colossal’s website still holds this incredible copy: “We have the DNA, the technology and the leading experts in the field. Next, we will have the woolly mammoth. Alive again.”
Beyond the ultimately rather frivolous quest to revive the mammoth and then immediately realize that it’s just a hairy elephant, there are real reasons to study the history of RNA. RNA processes are behind a huge array of cellular processes, and so behind a huge array of pathological processes, too. Both inborn diseases and RNA-based viruses like SARS and COVID-19.
The reality is that this is an RNA story, not a prehistoric one; biologists often struggle to generate insights like this for live species, including human beings, making it truly amazing that they’ve been able to do it in a species that hasn’t existed for thousands of years.