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Scientists Sequence 40,000-Year-Old Mammoth RNA
The 40,000-year-old mammoth RNA reveals gene activity related to stress and muscle function, with only 3 of 10 samples yielding reliable RNA, researchers said.
- In Cell on November 14, Love Dalén, paleogeneticist at Stockholm University, and colleagues reported the oldest RNA sequences ever recovered, nearly tripling the previous record from Yuka, a juvenile woolly mammoth.
- Love Dalén and his team targeted northern Siberian permafrost specimens, including Yuka—found in 2010 by tusk hunters and frozen for nearly 40,000 years—to test RNA preservation near death.
- Using ultraclean labs and liquid-nitrogen grinding, the researchers extracted RNA from ten woolly mammoths, with three mammoths yielding sufficient but highly fragmented material for computational assembly.
- Analysis found active muscle and stress genes, combined DNA and RNA analyses confirmed Yuka was genetically male, and the team found no RNA viruses in Yuka's tissues.
- The team says this provides a proof of principle that ancient RNA can reveal genes in extinct animals, and highlights potential to detect Ice Age RNA viruses, though not directly for de-extinction, authors caution.
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Space DailyAncient RNA recovery reveals gene activity in Ice Age mammoths
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Nov 15, 2025 Researchers from Stockholm University have isolated and sequenced RNA molecules from the tissue of woolly mammoths that lived nearly 40,000 years ago. The study, published in Cell, provides evidence that RNA can be preserved in permafrost over extensive ...
An international team, led by Spanish scientist Emilio Mármol-Sánchez, managed to extract and study RNA from a woolly mammoth that had been preserved on ice for nearly 40,000 years. Why extinct animals could now be studied better
·Buenos Aires, Argentina
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(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Ju-young = DNA can be extracted from animal remains from 2 million years ago, but RNA is known to have a much shorter preservation period.
·Korea, Republic of
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