Scientists Insert Genes From The Woolly Mammoth Into An Elephant w/videos

The extinct beast's remains were found in Northern Asia in 2010. It has since been named "Yuka" and is thought to be nearly 30,000 years old. The breakthrough occurred at Japan's Kindai University. Scientists say DNA from Yuka's muscle sprang back to life after being injected into mice cells. Cloning Yuka is still far out of reach because her cells are degraded and damaged.

The woolly mammoth roamed the planet right up until 4,000 years ago. But how did the mighty creature become extinct

In true "Jurassic Park" style, scientists at Harvard University have successfully managed to insert genes from the woolly mammoth into the genome of an elephant. While this may represent significant progress in the field, lead researcher George Church has reportedly played down claims that the work brings us closer to recreating these iconic animals.

Woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primignius) may have appeared more than 400,000 years ago during the middle Pleistocene, but they actually didn’t die out all that long ago. Alongside most other large mammal species residing in the Northern Hemisphere, they disappeared from most of their range across mainland Eurasia and North America about 10,000 years ago, but a small population of some 500-1,000 individuals survived on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean for a further 6,000 years.