With the new advancements in technology and science, geneticists and scientists believe that there is a possibility that the woolly mammoth could be brought back to life. There are a few ways that this is thought to be possible; however, nothing has been confirmed. One way to revive the woolly mammoth is to sequence its DNA from carcasses found in the Siberian Islands and use CRISPR to create this beast (Switek, 2013). Another way to do this is to synthesize the genes of the extinct species while placing those genes in the embryo of the closest living relative to the woolly mammoth, the Asian elephant (Worrall, 2017). Other techniques have been hypothesized to bring back other extinct animals, but these species were more recently extinct than the woolly mammoth. One of these techniques is to ‘reverse engineer’ the genome of the living species (Switek, 2013). The ‘reverse engineer’ method does require sequencing the genome of the living and extinct species and comparing the two genomes. Then, one would tweak the genome of the living species to create a genetically and physically similar species of the extinct animal (Switek, 2013). Another technique for more modernly extinct animals is to combine the nucleus of the lab-created extinct animal and combining it with the egg of the current species, although the current species would have the nucleus removed from its egg. The embryo would then be implanted in the uterus of the living species. This would hopefully give rise to the extinct species by splicing the genomic sequence to replace regions of the current genome that make the living species different than the extinct animal (Switek, 2013). Another method is breeding back. This method involves the strategic mating of current species with the DNA of the extinct species to restore the anatomy and genome of the extinct species. This would help when the animal would be reintroduced into the world (Switek, 2013). The extinct animal mating with the current animal would avoid some of the climate and temperature differences from the time the species went extinct to now (Worrall, 2017).
Currently, there is a layer of permafrost (a layer of soil) that is melting and adding to global warming. By bringing back the woolly mammoth, the species would eat grass, which could be grown on the permafrost areas in the Siberian Islands. This would then cause the grass to reflect the sun’s light and decrease the amount of heat and sun that the ground is absorbing. A scientific study reintroduced animals such as reindeer, bison, and Yakut horses to the Siberian plains and found that the temperature of the permafrost can be lowered through the aid of these herbivores (Worrall, 2017). Reintroducing these animals in the Siberian Steepe can help reduce the temperature of permafrost and slow down the effects of global warming on the climate (Pruitt, 2019). The reintroduction of extinct species can also help keep the smaller population under control and less likely to spread disease by interbreeding. Genetic variability could also increase since a new species would be introduced (Switek, 2013).
If this can be done successfully for one species, many geneticists believe that it could be done for many other extinct species. The difficult part is just determining which method to use and how to make sure that the animal can survive.
Switek, B. (2013, March 11). How to Resurrect Lost Species. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/3/130310-extinct-species-cloning-deextinction-genetics-science/
Pruitt, S. (2019, January 22). Are Scientists on the Verge of Resurrecting the Woolly Mammoth? Retrieved from https://www.history.com/news/wooly-mammoth-resurrection-cloning-genesis
Worrall, S. (2017, July 9). We Could Resurrect the Woolly Mammoth. Here's How. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/07/woolly-mammoths-extinction-cloning-genetics/