Il genetista statunitense della Harvard University, George Church, vuole ricreare in laboratorio il mammut lanoso, una specie scomparsa oltre 4'000 anni fa. Resuscitare l'animale richiederà un investimento a quindici milioni di dollari che arriva dall'imprenditore del settore high-tech Ben Lamm, che insieme a Church ha fondato la società di bioscienze e genetica Colossal.
L'obiettivo non è clonare un mammut, poiché il DNA estratto dai resti è troppo degradato, ma partendo da quello di un elefante asiatico, il team di Church punta a creare un ibrido di elefante-mammut identico al suo predecessore estinto.
Nella comunità scientifica non mancano gli scettici. Secondo Love Dalén, docente di genetica evolutiva presso il Centro di Paleogenetica di Stoccolma, il lavoro di Church ha un valore scientifico in particolare quando si tratta di conservazione di specie in via di estinzione. Tuttavia, sottolinea come da questo lavoro "non si ottenga un mammut, ma un elefante peloso con depositi di grasso".
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