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Scientists sequence entire woolly mammoth genome

The analysis helped researchers identify some 1.4 million genetic variants responsible for the woolly mammoth's distinctiveness.

By Brooks Hays

CHICAGO, July 2 (UPI) -- A team of researchers has sequenced the whole genome of the woolly mammoth -- the first comprehensive analysis of the animal's genetic code.

The analysis helped scientists identify a range genes that enabled the mammoth's adaption to the cold, icy climate of the arctic, including the development of thicker skin, additional hair, cold-weather metabolism and more.

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Researchers were also able to pinpoint genes tied to other physical traits, like mammoths' unique skull shape, downsized ears and stubby tails.

"This is by far the most comprehensive study to look at the genetic changes that make a woolly mammoth a woolly mammoth," Vincent Lynch, assistant professor of human genetics at the University of Chicago, said in a press release. "They are an excellent model to understand how morphological evolution works, because mammoths are so closely related to living elephants, which have none of the traits they had."

The sequencing project involved the work of scientists from Chicago, as well as Penn State University and the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. A paper detailing the genome analysis was published this week in the journal Cell Reports.

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To accurately and efficiently sequence the mammoth's entire genome, researchers used computer models to compare and contrast the gene sequences of two mammoth specimens with DNA samples collected from three Asian elephants and one African elephant, a slightly more distant relative.

The analysis helped researchers identify some 1.4 million genetic variants responsible for the woolly mammoth's distinctiveness. These variants result in the production of new and different proteins pumped out by some 1,600 genes.

Studying the genome alone can't tell researchers the exact role of genes, but through laboratory tests, scientists can better understand how ancient genes may have been expressed.

"Current methods make it relatively straightforward to sequence and computationally analyze genomes," said Lynch. "However, predicting function from computational analysis alone is still incredibly difficult and unreliable. What's needed is laboratory confirmation of those predictions, which is where the challenge lies. Our paper shows how it can be done."

Computer analysis identified a group of genes that likely affected temperature sensitivity, as well as hair and fat production. Researchers used the information to resurrect one of the genes, known as TRPV3. When scientists injected TRPV3 into human cells, the cells produced a protein less responsive to heat.

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Of course, the question everyone is asking is: does this research make a woolly mammoth clone any more likely? (There are currently science teams working on cloning a woolly mammoth.) The answer is yes.

"Eventually we'll be technically able to do it. But the question is: if you're technically able to do something, should you do it?" Lynch said. "I personally think no. Mammoths are extinct and the environment in which they lived has changed. There are many animals on the edge of extinction that we should be helping instead."

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