Why are scientists bringing woolly mammoths back from extinction?

The woolly mammoth could be resurrected within a few years if a new biotech firm is successful.

Bioscience company Colossal plans to impregnate an elephant with an embryo made of mammoth and elephant cells.

This de-extinction is made possible by CRISPR gene-editing technology which, like molecular scissors, can insert the extinct DNA into the genome of an Asian elephant.

Mammoth DNA, collected from tusks, bones and other preserved body parts found in ice, will be sequenced to create an “elephant-mammoth hybrid” that looks like a furrier, larger elephant with smaller ears and a high-domed head.

Already, thousands of changes have been made to a cell nucleus; it’s not known exactly how many are needed to bring the beasts back and enable them to survive in the freezing Arctic.

"Never before has humanity been able to harness the power of this technology to rebuild ecosystems, heal our Earth and preserve its future through the repopulation of extinct animals," says co-founder of the new firm, Ben Lamm.

Last year, the bioscience company announced it had managed to raise €12.6 million from investors so far, in order to achieve the co-founder’s vision of de-extinction. These include billionaire entrepreneurs such as PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and the Winklevoss twins.

Woolly mammoths went extinct around 4,000 years ago at the end of the last “ice-age”. Bringing them back, Colossal’s team says, is a step towards new technological advancements in environmental conservation.

"Colossal leverages the exponential progress made in technologies for reading and writing DNA and applies it to iconic ecological conservation and carbon sequestration issues," says fellow co-founder, George Church.

The Harvard University geneticist and other