Extinct ancient foal in pioneering cloning experiment is older than initially believed
Radiocarbon dating shows baby horse is 42,170 years old: bid to restore the species will 'pave the way for return of woolly mammoth'.
Comeback after 42,170 years. Picture: The Siberian Times
The light ginger-coloured carcass of the long-gone species of horse was found in the permafrost in Yakutia, the coldest region in Russia.
Experts initially said it was between 30,000 and 40,000 years old.
Now Semyon Grigoryev, leading researcher at the Mammoth Museum in Yakutsk, has revealed: 'The exact age turned out to be 42,170.’
Radiocarbon tests were carried out by South Korean professor Hwang Woo-suk with whom Siberian scientists are collaborating in efforts to clone a number of extinct species preserved in permafrost - including the woolly mammoth.
The Batagai foal, Semyon Grigoryev and the team that found the horse, the Batagai depression in Yakutia. Pictures: The Siberian Times, NEFU, Semyon Grigoryev
Achieving the return of the lost horse species is seen as a precursor for an attempt to restore the woolly mammoth.
A search is now underway in Yakutia for live cells from a foal found in permafrost in the Batagai depression.
Semyon Griogoryev said earlier: 'Fortunately, the animal's muscle tissues were undamaged and well preserved, so we managed to get samples of this unique find for biotechnology research.'
Professor Hwang - who has returned to Yakutsk - told The Siberian Times: ‘If we manage to find a cell, then we will do our best to clone the unique animal.'
'We are trying to make primary culture using this baby horse, which was discovered a few weeks ago.
‘If we get live cells from this ancient baby horse, it is a wonderful promise to people in terms of cloning.’
Radiocarbon dating shows baby horse is 42,170 years old. Pictures: The Siberian Times
When the woolly mammoth makes a comeback, its surrogate mother will be an elephant - but he said it should be easier to use a modern-day mare to restore a lost horse species.
‘We have so many live horses,’ Professor Hwang said. ‘We can get a very good choice of eggs from these female horses. After making the cloned embryo with this baby horse, we can easily transport it to the surrogate mother. There are the types of horses that are very close with the ancient one.’
In contrast, there is ‘a very big distance between the ancient mammoth and the elephant’, he said.
‘There are a million years of evolution between them.’
Hwang stressed: 'So if we find only one live cell, we can clone this ancient horse.
‘If we have one live cell, we can multiply it and get as many embryo as we need.
'Actually if we get the living cell from the ancient tissue it will be unique by itself, because no one managed to do this before. If we manage to clone the horse - it will be the first step to cloning the mammoth. It will help us to work out the technology.’
Modern day Yakut horses. Pictures: The Siberian Times
Dr Grigoryev said earlier: ‘The foal has no damage to its carcass, even its hair is preserved - which is incredibly rare for such ancient finds.’
Its mane and tail are intact.
He said: ‘This was called the Lenskaya, or Lena horse (Equus lenensis), genetically different from those living in Yakutia now….
‘This is the first find in the world find of a pre-historic horse of such a young age and with such an amazing level of preservation.’
Modern-day Yakut horse is the hardiest in the world, surviving temperatures of minus 60C in the blistering Siberian winters.
The the species was preceded by the extinct species. The reason these horses died out is not known.
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Comments (9)
Not agree here. The climate change did this. Proof? For 40,000 years humans were in Siberia and hunted animals there. No reductioni at all. Suddently, about 10,000 yr ago, all gone. Mammuth of 3 continents of which two inhabitated, all died. And this did not a difference if there were humans by 1 millions year (Europe), 50k (Siberia) or few thousands or dozen thousands (America). The vanishing of mammuth was global and sudden, like the climate change was.
About the only solution: to find DNA and editing adjust it: absolutely agree, a 'living' cell is very unlikely.
Yes, ecological & environmental positions weigh in, outside the technical issues of bringing back species ... and of course the external womb could be even more provocative. Interestingly, checking 'church artificial womb', I am reminded that the Catholic Church, and others in the Right To Life camp, are showing strong interest in the AW topic.
Yes, I think it's feasible.
Tissues & cells of frozen beasts are damaged firstly by the freezing per se (cellular & tissue-water expands, bursting the microstructure, and ice-crystals puncture cell-walls, etc), by discrete aspects of the freeze-thaw cycle (during periods of exposure), and by desiccation (Arctic air is extremely dry, and removes frozen water from tissues, by sublimation). These are the primary causes of damage & disruption in carcasses, tissues, cells and molecules.
Yes, nematodes are adapted to whatever environmental extremes their habitat (soil) is subjected. In cold regions, that includes freezing. Elsewhere, tiny things survive extreme desiccation, and heat. In this vein, don't miss the amazing Tardigrades (Water Bear).
Is it unscientific to look for whole cells that can be resuscitated, in a carcass as well-preserved & protected as this 42,000 year old foal? No it is not; it would be irresponsible not to exert ourselves to an unusual decree, on the chance that we are successful. Big potential rewards justify trying, even if the odds are against us.
Technically & scientifically and even nursing-clinic-speaking, the tissue-damage of which we are speaking is like a fall from a height. It is not the fall that hurts, but the sudden stop at the end. Similarly, it is less a matter of the freeze-event that damages living structure, but rather the events attending the thaw-process.
We know there are good ways and bad ways to address frost-bite. Similarly, scientific methods are receiving intense attention, to mitigate the adverse effects of thawing Pleistocene tissues. Some of this work is at the extreme cutting-edge of science, has not been Published, and is the focus of keen competition between Labs & Scientist.
Let's wish them Good Luck, with the amazing Batagai foal.
Yet scientists have to answer questions in which the Public is keenly interested ... and without trying to include an advanced Textbook in a quick Post.
In most carcasses found frozen in Siberian muck, the challenge is to extract merely the DNA component of the normally-degraded cells. The DNA is very valuable, but it does not grow on its own; rather it needs to be surrounded by the functioning machinery of a Cell.
Any mammal contains different kinds of Tissues, and Cells. 'Histology'. Different specific kinds of cells possess very different properties & characteristics. And that includes various sorts of resistance, to various sorts of degradation. Furthermore, while acknowledging that Russian Machine Never Breaks, we have heard that bush-mechanics have been known to take 3 dead machines, and make one that is alive! Sounds crazy, but... ;)