Scientists isolated bacterial DNA from 483 mammoth remains, primarily molars but also tusks and bones, spanning up to 1.1 million years. The oldest material derived from a steppe mammoth in Adycha, Arctic Russia. Genetic material from six bacterial groups was recovered, including streptococci linked to dental cavities and Pasteurella relatives related to microbes that can cause septicemia in modern African elephants. The results enable investigation of mammoth–microbiome coevolution and the possibility that ancient bacteria contributed to mammoth disease and extinction. Some contributors are affiliated with Colossal, a company pursuing mammoth de-extinction by 2027, though many experts remain skeptical.
Just 4,000 years ago, when the first human civilizations had established themselves in Mesopotamia and Egypt, mammoths were still alive on Wrangel, a remote Arctic island. This Tuesday, the same team published an exhaustive analysis of hundreds of mammoth remains spanning a million years, with a new surprise: they were able to isolate DNA from the bacteria that lived inside these animals from their teeth and other tissues.
Some of the scientists behind the study work for the U.S. company Colossal, which aims to de-extinct the mammoth by 2027. However, many experts believe this project will never truly bring these animals back, but rather create strange, reddish-haired elephants. This new study could also make it possible to recover the bacteria that coexisted with the pachyderms and may have caused them deadly infections.
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