Claims about the possibility of 'bringing back' animals from extinction is a ploy rarely failing to generate publicity. It has been debated for organisms ranging from dinosaurs to the Tasmanian wolf. Now, Colossal have hit the news with their insertion of a Hairy mammoth gene (from an ice- 'preserved' Siberian specimen) into a laboratory mouse. This chimera produced a slightly hairier mouse. Colossal claim that their 'breakthrough' could be the first stage of restoring the Hairy mammoth. This genetics company speculate that complete preserved Hairy mammoth DNA could be inserted into an African elephant egg, to be reared by that species. They suggest Hairy mammoths are essential for the 'health of the tundra'. Adam Rutherford (University College of London) points out many of the technical and ethical problems, associated with this proposition (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/06/woolly-mammoth-us-scientists-unethical-government). Rutherford opines that using degraded DNA, simply doesn't work. It would be a bit like trying to reconstitute a book, from having copies of some of the individual sentences and paragraphs on strips of paper. He also notes there's no evidence that a) the embryo would be viable in the mother; b) she (and her group) would tolerate an offspring with Hairy mammoth characteristics or c) even that the baby mammoth could thrive on elephant milk. One should add that climate change is causing the permafrost to melt. It's likely, there would be no tundra to reintroduce a Hairy mammoth into. Any reconstituted organism, would also have very little genetic diversity, making it very prone to extinction. It seems as if, media activity of this type, is simply designed to bring more investment into companies. It actually makes science appear a touch 'dodgy'..
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