Cloning Could Bring Wooly Mammoths Back to Life

tusks

With the last of the species becoming extinct about 3,500 years ago, many believed that Wooly Mammoths were destined to remain a part of ancient history–until now.

Now, South Korean scientists, led by controversial researcher Hwang Woo-suk at the Sooam BioTech Research Foundation in Seoul, South Korea, are working with cutting-edge cloning technology to try and resurrect the ancient predators.

After successfully cloning more than 600+ dogs (for $100,000 each), the team is now expanding their focus. Their current effort is to try and clone Wooly Mammoths from flesh and samples from a “perfectly preserved specimen” from Northern Siberia.

The task is dripping with controversy, both over the cloning practices themselves, as well as with the “shady” procurement of the tissue samples. In this documentary, the Motherboard team investigates all the twists and turns of this “mammoth” of an undertaking.

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