Scientists aim to create a close relative by genetically modifying Asian elephants to survive in the Arctic environment.
Colossal BiosciencesDNA but to create a close relative – an Asian elephant with the genetic modifications needed to survive in the harsh Arctic environment.
The road ahead is long, but Colossal has announced a groundbreaking achievement – scientists have coaxed Asian elephant cells into an embryonic-like state. This means they can eventually develop into any cell type needed, opening a path toward creating elephant sperm and eggs in the laboratory. The key? These results hinge on cells called induced pluripotent stem cells or iPSCs, reminiscent of a scene right out of Jurassic Park.
In 2006, the Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka showed that it was possible to revert mature cells to a pluripotent state. Yamanaka’s research was in mouse cells, but later scientists followed up by deriving iPSCs for many different species, including humans, horses, pigs, cattle, monkeys, and the northern white rhino – a functionally extinct subspecies with only two females remaining in the wild.
“Elephants are a very special species, and we have only just begun to scratch the surface of their fundamental biology,” shared Eriona Hysolli, Head of Biological Sciences at Colossal Biosciences.
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