First ever sample of mammoth's blood was discovered by Siberian researches. Picture: Semyon Grigoriev
Remarkable images show a test tube blood sample from a female of the long-extinct species. Scientists say they have found both blood and muscle tissue - perfectly preserved in the ice - from a Siberian mammoth. The blood had dripped out of the giant animal into a natural ice capsule and it represents a dream discovery for researchers. It comes amid a hotly contested debate on whether scientists should try to recreate the extinct species using DNA, though there now seems little doubt that this WILL happen, and the Russian team from Yakutsk that made the find is working in a partnership with South Korean scientists who are actively seeking to bring the mammoth back to life.
'We were really surprised to find mammoth blood and muscle tissue,' said Semyon Grigoriev, head of the Museum of Mammoths of the Institute of Applied Ecology of the North at the North Eastern Federal University. Picture: Semyon Grigoriev
The find was made in temperatures of minus 10C on the New Siberian Islands - or Novosibirsk Islands, off the coast of the Republic of Sakha. 'We were really surprised to find mammoth blood and muscle tissue,' said Semyon Grigoriev, head of the Museum of Mammoths of the Institute of Applied Ecology of the North at the North Eastern Federal University. 'It is the first time we managed to obtain mammoth blood. No-one has ever seen before how the mammoth's blood flows'. He explained: 'The approximate age of this animal is about 10,000 years old. It has been preserved thanks to the special conditions, due to the fact that it did not defrost and then freeze again. 'We suppose that the mammoth fell into water or got bogged down in a swamp, could not free herself and died. Due to this fact the lower part of the body, including the lower jaw, and tongue tissue, was preserved very well. 'The upper torso and two legs, which were in the soil, were gnawed by prehistoric and modern predators and almost did not survive.' Despite this, he hails it as 'the best preserved mammoth in the history of paleontology.
'For now our suspicion is that mammoth blood contains a kind of natural anti-freeze'. Picture: Semyon Grigoriev
The scientists believed from studying her teeth that this mammoth died when she was between 50 and 60 years of age. 'Of course, we all heard the stories, that indigenous northern people found frozen mammoth meat and fed their dogs with it. However, even if this actually happened, they did not get into hands of scientists. 'We hope that at least one living cell of the mammoth was preserved, but even in such a good condition of the carcass the chances of this are small. 'Yet it is great luck that the blood preserved and we plan to study it carefully'.
'We have taken all possible samples: samples of blood, blood vessels, glands, soft tissue, in a word - everything that we could'. Picture: Semyon Grigoriev
'For now our suspicion is that mammoth blood contains a kind of natural anti-freeze. 'In 2010, Canadian researchers compared the DNA of the mammoth and its closest relative the Indian elephant. It turned out that mammoth haemoglobin let go of its oxygen much more readily at cold temperatures.' With the newly-discovered mammoth 'we have taken all possible samples: samples of blood, blood vessels, glands, soft tissue, in a word - everything that we could. 'Luckily we had taken with us on our expedition a special preservative agent for blood. 'We decided that taking the whole carcass by helicopter to Yakutsk would be very dangerous and that we could lose invaluable material because of defrosting. We did not take the risk, and moved the rest of carcass - it weighs about a ton - from the islands to the mainland and put it into an icehouse. 'In late July - early August, we plan to go there with our foreign colleagues for further researches.'
'We moved the rest of carcass from the islands to the mainland and put it into an icehouse'. Pictures: Semyon Grigoriev
Last year a deal was signed giving South Korean scientists exclusive rights on cloning the woolly mammoth from certain tissue samples found in the Siberian permafrost. Stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk's private bioengineering laboratory confirmed he is poised to make a bid to return the extinct Siberian mammoth to the planet. Once the tissues have been treated to a nuclear transfer process, the eggs will be implanted into the womb of a live elephant for a 22-month pregnancy.
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