A couple of years ago we told you in this article the story of Colossal Biosciences, Texan Biotechnology Company who is working to bring the woolly mammoth back to life, extinct 4,000 years ago and whose resurrection is scheduled for 2028.
Now Colossal returns to be talked about for what he describes as an important step towards the success of the project: the company has in fact managed to give life to the “woolly mouse“, A mouse genetically changed With a fur reminiscent of that of the mammoths. The news was first given by USA TODAYwhile on the company’s website you can see some photos of the “creation”.
How a mouse modifies you. Before you do strange ideas, let’s try to explain the genesis of the woolly mouse. Colossal’s team identified in mice, nine genes associated with characteristics similar to those of mammoths: some controlled the color, length and size of the hair, others the fat metabolism (directly connected to the ability to resist the cold).
It is worth specifying that we are not talking about the insertion of mammoth genes in the mice: simply, the team has identified the genes that control features also useful to “transform” an elephant into a mammoth, and has also discovered that some of these are common between mice and elephants.
The birth of the first woolly mouse. The result of this manipulation is the one you see in the photos: the woolly mouse, identical to a normal mouse but with one thick reddish fur. Unfortunately, Change the genes relating to fat metabolism did not have the same result: woolly mice are no longer resistant to the cold than the normal ones, at least from this point of view.
According to Colossal, the operation was a success and confirms the validity of the method they want to use to de-establish mammoths, that is Change an Asian elephant To make him look as much as possible to a true woolly mammoth. Other experts (not involved in work, which is still waiting for publication and peer review) are more skeptical, and they claim that it is not enough to add a little fur to an elephant to transform it into another species, and that changes of this type are only aesthetic and do not say much about the biology of these new animals.
