‘It can be assumed that the blood of mammoths had some cryo-protective properties,’ 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: news.ykt.ru
Russian scientists have discovered blood inside the carcass of a prehistoric woolly mammoth.
The rare find, which was made during an expedition to a remote island in the Arctic Ocean, could boost the chances of successfully cloning the animal.
Semyon Grigoryev, the head of the expedition, said the female mammoth was about 60 when it died some 10,000 to 15,000 years ago, and it was the first time an old female had been found.
But what was more surprising was that the carcass was so well preserved that it still had blood and muscle tissue.
“When we broke the ice beneath her stomach, the blood flowed out from there, it was very dark,” said Mr Grigoryev, who is a scientist at the Yakutsk-based North-Eastern Federal University.
“This is the most astonishing case in my entire life. How was it possible for it to remain in liquid form? And the muscle tissue is also red, the colour of fresh meat.
They have taken a sample of the blood and have said that a bacterial analysis is expected soon. They have estimated the female mammoth to be 50 – 60 years old when it died. And she weighs about a ton..!
I do not know what the peeps of WP think. They do seem to really want to clone a mammoth. But scientists have not yet found enough living cells for cloning. Despite the good state of preservation of the mammoth.. I do not like idea. It is a strange thought that one day they will be able to bring these gigantic animals back. And when they do the animal is going to be treated like a circus freak sadly.
As a species we can’t keep Elephants alive, what would we do with a new species? And is it morally right to bring a dead species back to life to constrain it in captivity?
Thoughts?
prayingforoneday 