Woolly mammoth cloning moves closer to reality

In our lifetimes, a woolly mammoth will likely be cloned. Researchers may have moved the ball cl;oser to the goal line.

Via The Telegraph:

Well-preserved frozen woolly mammoth fragments have been discovered deep in Siberia that may contain living cells, edging a tad closer to the possibility of cloning a prehistoric animal, the mission's organiser has said.

Russia's North-Eastern Federal University said an international team of researchers had discovered mammoth hair, soft tissues and bone marrow some 328 feet (100 meters) underground during a summer expedition in the northeastern province of Yakutia.

Expedition chief Semyon Grigoryev said Korean scientists with the team had set a goal of finding living cells in the hope of cloning a mammoth. Scientists have previously found bones and fragments but not living cells.

Mr Grigoryev told the online newspaper Vzglyad it would take months of research to determine whether they have indeed found the cells.

"Only after thorough laboratory research it will be known whether these are living cells or not," he said, adding that would take until the end of the year at the earliest.