The project to bring the woolly mammoth back to life is facing greater challenges than expected, prompting scientists to turn to artificial intelligence in an attempt to solve a problem that dates back some 4,000 years.
Colossal Biosciences, based in Dallas, USA, is working to bring this furry ancestor of the elephant back to life using gene-editing techniques, along with DNA extracted from frozen mammoth remains found in Siberia in 2018.
The company had predicted in 2024 that it would be able, within four years, to raise baby mammoths in its laboratories, but it has now announced that the timeline for bringing these animals back to life will be delayed.
The company's CEO, Ben Lam, told TIME magazine: "We believe that will happen in the early 2030s."
He added: "We don't have a specific date. It won't be 2036, but it won't be 2030 either."
A woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) and a bison (Bison bison) in a computer-generated artwork, depicted in a snow-covered field. / Gettyimages.ru
The company explained that modifying the mammoth's genes was more complex than it had anticipated, compared to the work it had done on the Dire Wolf, which it announced it would bring back to life in 2025.
Initially, scientists believed they only needed to modify about 60 genes in the nucleus of an elephant cell to transform it into the nucleus of a mammoth cell, which would then develop into a mammoth embryo, according to the journal.
But they now believe the project will require modifying more than 150 genes.
Ongoing research has helped scientists gather information about the genetic code of elephants and mammoths, including the discovery of genes responsible for controlling the size of mammoth ears, according to the magazine.
As part of its research, Colossal Biosciences has successfully produced a strain of 38 woolly mice, using the mammoth genetic code associated with thick hair.
These woolly mice were genetically modified by Colossal Biosciences to carry the same gene responsible for hair found in woolly mammoths. / Colossal Biosciences
The company uses artificial intelligence and CRISPR gene-editing technology in all of its projects, which include reviving the flightless dodo, the Tasmanian tiger, and the emu-like moa.
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