What could have been a fascinating rumor is indeed a reality, and to be made possible by breakthrough researches in the field of cloning. Japanese scientists are on their way to bring the woolly mammoth to life with technologies that involve DNA extraction from preserved bodies. The process will also include the creation of a mammoth embryo and its implantation in an elephant’s uterus for natural development.

Researches from Kyoto university headed by Akira Iritani and Teruhiko Wakayama of Riken Centre for Developmental Biology have collaborated and decided on this project of bringing back the prehistoric vertebrate to life. The reason behind this elaborate process of raising the mammoth is to determine the exact reason of its extinction. Although there are a few more difficulties in the complex procedure, the researchers believe to overcome them in a duration of 5-6 years. Time would tell whether eventually we would come face to face with the extraordinary extinct species!

Popsci