US EditionScientists 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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