3D genome reconstructed
from freeze-dried woolly mammoth An international research team has assembled a 3D reconstruction of the genome and chromosomal structures of a 52,000-year-old woolly mammoth, in what is understood to be a world first for any ancient DNA sample.
A
s documented in the journal Cell, the fossilised chromosomes
provide insight into how the mammoth’s genome was organised within its living cells and which genes were active within the skin tissue from which the DNA was extracted. This unprecedented level of structural detail was retained because the mammoth underwent freeze-drying shortly after it died, which meant that its DNA was preserved in a glass-like state. “This is a new type of fossil, and its scale dwarfs that of individual ancient DNA fragments — a million times more sequence,” said corresponding author
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24 | LAB+LIFE SCIENTIST - Aug/Sep 2024
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