Have Scientists Created Hybrids of Mice and Mammoths?

The last time we wrote about biotechnology firm Colossal was in 2021, when they’d announced an impressive fundraising haul as part of their stated mission to bring back a number of extinct animals, including the wooly mammoth. Now, Colossal has made another announcement — and this time, there’s a living creature with more than a little mammoth in its DNA. (Kind of) However, don’t expect this creature to tower over the landscape; instead, this one has a slightly smaller footprint — literally.

As 404 Media’s Becky Ferreira reports, scientists at Colossal edited the genes of mice to emulate the type of hair found in wooly mammoths. The result is one of the more adorable creatures you’re likely to see that has something in common with megafauna.

In study results published at bioRxiv, the scientists working on this project wrote that “[t]his study establishes a rapid platform for testing mammoth-centric genetic variants while advancing methods for complex genetic model generation.” The authors also contended that their work could “inform de-extinction efforts.” That said, not everyone in this field is entirely convinced.

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In an article published in Nature, Ewen Callaway chronicled responses to the study — both intrigued and skeptical. The latter camp includes the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology’s Stephan Riesenberg, who called the result of this study “a mouse that has some special genes.” Time will tell if this breakthrough gets us closer to reborn mammoths walking among us — but given Colossal’s recent fundraising history, investors like what they see so far.