Woolly mammoth to be brought back to life from cloned bone marrow 'within five years'

Thigh bone discovered in permafrost soil of Siberia

Contains elusive undamaged genes essential for nucleus transplantation



Nuclei of elephant's egg cells will be replaced with mammoth's marrow DNA



Embryo will then be planted into elephant womb for gestation

Scientists believe it may be possible to clone a woolly mammoth within five years after finding well-preserved bone marrow in a thigh bone recovered from permafrost soil in Siberia.

Teams from Russia's Sakha Republic's mammoth museum and Japan's Kinki University will launch fully-fledged joint research next year aiming to recreate the giant mammal, Japan's Kyodo News reported from Yakutsk, Russia.

By replacing the nuclei of egg cells from an elephant with those taken from the mammoth's marrow cells, embryos with mammoth DNA can be produced, Kyodo said, citing the researchers.

Clone hope: The discovery of marrow inside the thigh bone of a woolly mammoth in Siberia has led scientists to believe they can bring the species back to life

Exciting: Mammoth bones like this one have been dug up many times before, but finding one with undamaged genes has proven a challenge (file picture)

The scientists will then plant the embryos into elephant wombs for delivery as the two species are close relatives, the report said.

Securing nuclei with an undamaged gene is essential for the nucleus transplantation technique, it said.

For scientists involved in the research since the late 1990s, finding nuclei with undamaged mammoth genes has been a challenge.



Fertile land: The thigh bone was discovered in the permafrost soil of Siberia as were these tusks which came from an entire 23,000-year-old mammoth dug up in 1999

Mammoths became extinct about 10,000 years ago.

But the discovery in August in Siberia has increased the chances of a successful cloning.