Colossal Biotechnology Company produces curly mice with thick brown brown fur and stored fat under the skin similar to ancient mammoths.
Colossal’s curly mouse has a mammoth -like elephant coat in the last ice age. Image: Colossal Biosciences
Scientists create genetically modified mice with the same coat that helps the curly mammoth to keep warm during the last ice. Biotechnology Company Colossal Biosciences published images of curly mice on March 4. These special mice marked a milestone in the project to revive the company’s mammoth in 2028.
Scientists in Colossal planned to bring the curly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) Risen by editing cells from their nearest alive relatives is Asian elephants (Elephant biggest). They will create hybrid embryos with dense hairs and many other characteristics of mammoth elephants. But before it was possible to start working with Asian elephants, the team had to test the tools to change and edit the gene on mice, animals that were easy to raise and breed faster. “The mouse model is super useful in this case. Different from the elephant with a period of about 22 months pregnancy, the mouse’s pregnancy lasts only 20 days,” Beth Shapiro, an evolutionary biologist and director of Science in Colossal.
Short pregnancy allows researchers to design, clone and raise curly mice in just 6 months. The group of Colossal experts described the research results on the Biorxiv database on March 4.
To create curly mice, the researcher transforms 7 genes in mice, 6 of which are related to the structure, length and color of the fur. They selected these genes through the screening of the DNA sequence to control the development of mice and have an evolutionary relationship with the sequence of creating dense hairs of curly mammoth. “We do not take the elephant gene and put it on the mouse. We search for gene variants in the mouse can be helpful to the mammoth, then create mice that owns a lot of editing among these,” Shapiro explained.
Most edit “turn off” the genes that usually act in mice. For example, scientists disable a gene called FGF-5 coordinating hair length, resulting in a mouse with 3 times the standard experimental mouse. They also give mice mutations in the curly mammoth, resulting in more curved fur than usual. The curly mammoth has a short -short version of a gene called TGF alpha as well as mutations in the Keratin Krt27 gene. Both are integrated by the research team into the DNA of curly hairs.
Shapiro and colleagues use three genetic techniques to add editing to an organization, including the multi -accurate genome editing technology. As a result, they can edit several positions at DNA at the same time with high accuracy. The Colossal expert group also focuses on a fat coordination gene and absorbs fatty acids in mice. Curly mammoths develop in cold temperatures partly due to fat stored under the skin, so researchers seek to create similar storage in mice by editing the relevant DNA sequence. But they are unclear the influence of this activity.
Although it is unknown whether genetically modified mice can suffer cold conditions than conventional mice, scientists in Colossal say they will check in the coming months. Although the curly mouse is a step closer to the goal of bringing the curly mammoth back, there are still many big obstacles to overcome. For example, technology is related to very high -end curly mouse changes, it is far different from what is needed to achieve similar results in the elephant.