Let's fake a mammoth

摘要

The complete genome sequence of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana), expected soon from the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, should be a great help in identifying regions of the mammoth genome that vary from those of the elephant and starting the search for the key genetic differences that are unique to mammoths. But it might also provide a more direct and plausible way to make what one might call pseudo-mammoths. With some idea of the genes involved in hair formation, coat colour and tusk development, for example, it might be possible to use genetic engineering and selective breeding to produce an elephant that looks remarkably mammoth-like, says Svante Paeaebo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.