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Hwang Woo Suk told NEFU about the preliminary results of the study of Malolyakhovsky mammoth

  • 23 March 2015
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Hwang Woo Suk told NEFU about the preliminary results of the study of Malolyakhovsky mammoth

We need to apply new techniques to work with the cells of Malolyakhovsky mammoth. The head of the South Korean SOOAM Biotech Research Foundation Hwang Woo Suk told about it during a meeting of the NEFU Rector Evgenia Mikhailova with the participants of the International Scientific Seminar on modern methods of study of fossil animals on March 16.

"We have extracted certain cell  from the mammoth material. But attempts to work with it failed. We need to develop new techniques, because the material is very difficult to work with", Hwang Woo Suk said.

The chief of SOOAM Biotech Research Foundation noted that the opening of the center is the result of a joint fruitful work of the Foundation and NEFU. "I hope that the opening of the International Center for collective use "Molecular Paleontology " will be a new stage of our cooperation", the Korean expert in the field of animal cloning and stem cell said.

The Deputy Director for Research of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Aleksey Tikhonov, said that there is no answer to the questions that were raised at the beginning of research. "Why this mammoth is so well-preserved? We assume that the bacterial activity creates a certain environment in which cells are well-preserved. But we don’t have such data yet. If our assumptions will be confirmed, it will be a medical breakthrough", the scientist said at the meeting.

Aleksey Tikhonov believes that research needs a fresh look. "A year ago we have attracted a variety of specialists to study Malolyakhovsky mammoth, including pathologists and forensic experts. The most important thing for us is to identify the intact cell and continue working with it. Upon reaching our goal, we do a lot of new discoveries ", the St. Petersburg researcher said.

At the end of the meeting, the parties signed an agreement on scientific and technical cooperation between North-Eastern Federal University, South Korean SOOAM Biotech Research Foundation and Beijing Institute of Genomics and Genetic studies of ancient animals.

Author: Varvara JIRKOVA, NEFU Newsroom

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