1. W/S Researchers work around the mammoth 2. C/U Researchers handle mammoth remains 3. M/S Researchers handle mammoth remains 4. M/S Researchers excavate around the mammoth 5. C/U Researcher excavate mammoth remains 6. M/S Researchers excavate around the mammoth 7. C/U Researcher drills around mammoth remains 8. M/S Mammoth remains in laboratory 9. M/S Researchers enter laboratory 10. C/U Temperature reader 11. M/S Researchers remove mammoth hair from freezer box 12. SOT: (Russian) Head scientist at Russia's Northeast Federal University, Semyon Grigoriev: "It`s not a fantasy any longer, now it is believed that cloning of a mammoth it is a question of time and money and of course of the materials" 13. C/U Mammoth hair 14. M/S Researcher examines mammoth hair 15. SOT: (Russian) Head scientist at Russia's Northeast Federal University, Semyon Grigoriev: "Various mammoth remains, that were found previously were not acceptable ( for cloning). We hope that soft tissue of this mammoth will give us acceptable raw materials for cloning attempts." 16. M/S Mammoth remains 17. M/S Mammoth remains 18. C/U mammoth blood SCRIPT Russia: Mammoth find thaws frozen time, cloning round the corner? A Russian expedition has recently discovered an immaculately preserved woolly mammoth on a remote Island in Siberia. The mammoth was a particularly exciting find for the team because of its well preserved state - so well preserved in fact that the mammoth still contained liquid blood, despite being somewhere between 10 and 15 thousand years old. According to the researchers, the female mammoth was between 50 and 60 years old when she died and only one half of the carcass was preserved while all that remained of the other half was a skeleton. Researchers from the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, Siberia have said that the Mammoth's flesh had retained "the natural colour of fresh meat" and were intrigued as to why the blood, which was very dark, was not frozen despite being in temperatures far below zero. Some scientists have suggested that the woolly mammoth's blood contains anti-freeze like properties which makes it well adapted for life in very cold climates. Blood samples have been taken back to the university for further tests. The discovery means that scientists are now a step closer to being able to clone the woolly mammoth back to life, a stated aim of many biotechnology laboratories and research institutes, including the team that made the discovery. As the blood is in liquid form, the chances of scientists finding a live cell will be increased, which is what is needed to successfully be able to clone the giant mammal. Cloning would have to involve the placing of genes taken from mammal remains and placing these into a female elephant egg which then would be placed in a female elephant. Head scientist at the university Semyon Grigoriev says "It's not a fantasy any longer, now it is believed that cloning of a mammoth it is just a question of time and money and of course of the materials". Grigoriev goes on to explain that "Various mammoth remains, that were found previously were not acceptable (for cloning). We hope that soft tissue of this mammoth will give us acceptable raw materials for cloning attempts." However, some scientists have voiced concern the cloning project for ethical reasons, such as the possible effects of cloning on the prospective mother elephant, or the life of the resultant mammoth may be riddled with problems given the planet's climate is currently too warm for a mammoth.

• published: 21 Apr 2014
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