AFTER a tantalisingly successful run at sequencing parts of the extinct woolly mammoth’s genome, the project is now stalled for lack of funds.
Hendrik Poinar of the McMaster Ancient DNA Centre at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and his team hope that sequencing the genomes of extinct animals will reveal otherwise inaccessible data on their evolutionary history, population, diversity and other key traits. Cracking the woolly mammoth genome might help solve the mystery of what killed off these animals as the last ice age waned about 12,000 years ago, and provide hints about the demise of their fellow megafauna.…
