Finding Freeze Dried 'Chromoglass' in a 52,000 year old Mammoth

Researchers have found that the DNA of a 52,000-year-old wooly mammoth has been preserved in a glassy state inside the mammoth. The mammoth sat inside the Siberian permafrost preserved. During this time, the Siberian permafrost rapidly dried the DNA into a tight molecular state like glass while maintaining its 3-D structure, called chromoglass. This chromoglass allowed researchers to examine its genomes and observe what was activated or deactivated before the mammoth's death. A detailed survey of the mammoth's genome was possible after a group of international scientists adapted a Hi-C technique to examine the preserved DNA, as the regular Hi-C method could not read such a degraded sample.

The new Hi-C technique, PaleoHi-C, allowed the researchers to make several crucial discoveries about woolly mammoths. The researchers discovered that mammoths had 28 pairs of chromosomes, just like elephants today. They also found that specific genes were more active in elephants than mammoths and vice versa. An example is a gene called Egfr, which controls hair and skin growth for these animals; the mammoth had its gene inactive, suggesting that since the gene was inactive, it may have helped mammoths grow the thick coat they are known to have.

This research opens up new possibilities for studying extinct species and their genetics. The new ability to preserve and analyze the 3D structure of ancient DNA will give scientists a better understanding of how these extinct species lived and adapted. PaleoHi-C also provides a new tool for researchers to use, which can help with more detailed studies of extinct species while at the same time boosting our understanding of evolution.

My Opinion:

I believe that discovering this preserved DNA and the new techniques created to read it is a massive step forward for genetics. Now, with the ability to read old genomes of ancient creatures, we will be able to compare them to typical genomes of modern species and compare the differences, allowing us to understand how this ancient beast roamed the lands. If we continue to further our advances in finding and understanding ancient genomes, we will be able to know how different species evolved over countless centuries.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/drying-woolly-mammoth-dna-3d-glass

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2439218-woolly-mammoth-dna-exceptionally-preserved-in-freeze-dried-jerky/