The Download: Gene de-extinction, and Ukraine’s Starlink connection

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The Download: Gene de-extinction, and Ukraine’s Starlink connection


This week noticed the discharge of some fascinating information about some very furry rodents—so-called “woolly mice”—created as a part of an experiment to discover how we’d in the future resurrect the woolly mammoth.

The thought of bringing again extinct species has gained traction because of advances in sequencing of historic DNA. This historic genetic knowledge is deepening our understanding of the previous—as an example, by shedding mild on interactions amongst prehistoric people. But researchers have gotten extra bold. Rather than simply studying historic DNA, they need to use it—by inserting it into dwelling organisms.

Because this concept is so new and attracting a lot consideration, I made a decision it might be helpful to create a file of earlier makes an attempt so as to add extinct DNA to dwelling organisms. And because the know-how doesn’t have a reputation, let’s give it one: “chronogenics.” Read the total story.

—Antonio Regalado

This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech e-newsletter. To obtain it in your inbox each Thursday, and browse articles like this primary, join right here

If you’re concerned about de-extinction, why not take a look at:

+ How a lot would you pay to see a woolly mammoth? We spoke to Sara Ord, director of species restoration at Colossal, the world’s first “de-extinction” firm, about its massive ambitions.

+ Colossal can be a de-extinction firm, which is attempting to resurrect the dodo. Read the total story.

+ DNA that was frozen for two million years has been sequenced. The historic DNA fragments come from a Greenland ecosystem the place mastodons roamed amongst flowering vegetation. It could maintain clues to how you can survive a warming local weather.

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