[Paleopsych] Cape Argus (S.Af.): Scientists may use mammoth cells for cloning

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Scientists may use mammoth cells for cloning
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=588&art_id=vn20050319103941354C279683
    March 19 2005 at 02:43PM

    A frozen mammoth dug up from the Siberian tundra has been unveiled in
    central Japan in a preview of the six-month World Exposition, which is
    expected to draw millions of tourists.

    The beast, believed to have lived 18 000 years ago, has been preserved
    in a giant refrigerator. It is a key exhibit at the Expo, which will
    open next Friday and largely feature modern wonders such as robots.
    Full-bodied mammoths have been unearthed in the past, but this exhibit
    is billed as the most successful attempt yet to display the animal
    almost fully.

    The mammoth on display has tusks, a front leg and a nearly intact,
    soil-coloured head covered with muscle tissue and some woolly hair.
    This is not a mere pavilion but a laboratory, as we will do scientific
    research here, Toshio Nakamura, secretary-general of the exposition,
    told the opening ceremony of the Mammoth Lab.

    Visitors can view the mammoth, which was excavated in 2002, from
    windows at the lab, where the temperature and humidity are controlled
    by computers.

    A group of Russian and Japanese scientists hope to clone mammoths from
    the animals remains by using elephant egg cells.

    The multimillion-dollar project between Russia and Japan to examine
    the beast is intended to find out why mammoths became extinct in the
    Ice Age.

    The sad fact that mammoths became extinct is telling an important
    thing to us, said Alexander K Akimov, vice-president of the Sakha
    region in the Russian Federation, which owns the animal.
    We have to cherish the Earth and we should not forget about fostering
    all kinds of lives.

      * This article was originally published on page 13 of [172]Saturday
        Argus on March 19, 2005

References

  172. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=22&click_id=1909