Could ‘woolly’ mice put mammoths on the path to de-extinction?

Mice have had multiple genes edited simultaneously to grow shaggy coats that resemble those of extinct woolly mammoths. The work was conducted by Texas-based ‘de-extinction’ company Colossal Biosciences, which wants to revive woolly mammoth traits in Asian elephants, their closest living relative, with the aim of breeding them to bioengineer and protect Arctic tundra environments where mammoths once roamed.

‘We have been editing elephant cells for more than two years, using multiple approaches to simultaneously alter genes that we hypothesise will lead to de-extinction of key mammoth traits,’ says Beth Shapiro, Colossal’s chief science officer. ‘The woolly mouse project confirms that these target edits will help restore the woolly coat phenotype.’