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52,000-year-old woolly mammoth chromosomes reconstructed from 'jerky-like' skin


An incredibly well-preserved woolly mammoth specimen that died 52,000 years ago in Siberia has now had its chromosome structure reassembled for the first time.

Analysis of the woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius) genome, published today in the journal Cell by an international team of scientists, revealed the species had 28 chromosomes — the same number as both the Asian and African elephants. It took the researchers five years to land on a suitable specimen — an immensely well-preserved portion of mammoth skin called YakInf, which was uncovered in 2018 near Belaya Gora in Siberia. Professor Lieberman Aiden is one of two senior authors on the paper who are advisors to biotechnology startup Colossal Biosciences, the company working on reviving the mammoth.

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