Woolly mice were created to help engineer mammoth-like elephants.

Genetically made woolly mice could one day help populate the Arctic with hairy, genetically modified elephants, thereby reducing global warming.

 

These are the astounding claims made by a US business on Tuesday, which claimed to have manufactured mice with "mammoth-like traits."  Colossal Biosciences' ultimate goal is to create mammoth-like creatures that can help prevent arctic permafrost from melting.

 

Criticism has poured in, claiming that designing mammoth-like creatures is a far cry from making mice hairier, as well as unethical and that the entire endeavor is a publicity gimmick.

 

However, the corporation claims it was underestimated and that the mouse is a crucial instrument in the effort to restore Earth's depleted nature.

According to Colossal Biosciences, the hairy mouse trials were a step toward genetically engineering elephants to be hairier and more resistant to cold.

 

Its declared purpose is to breed herds of mammoth-like beasts to inhabit the northern tundra.  According to the firm, the critters' grazing habits would promote grassland growth and cut carbon dioxide emissions from thawing permafrost.

 

Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is one of the primary causes of global warming.

 

However, skeptics argue that important scientific difficulties must be surmounted before these alterations in mice are tested on elephants.

 Ben Lam, Colossal's co-founder and CEO, told BBC News that the woolly mice represented a significant step forward.

"We are on track to have the first cold adapted elephant by 2028 and that would mean having the first embryos by the end of 2026," he informed me.

 

"Over time, we are going to have this entire lineage of cold-adapted elephants that we can put back into the wild that can interbreed."

 

The woolly mice's genes were modified in eight ways: seven were adapted mouse genes associated with hair growth, while the eighth was a mammoth gene related to increasing body fat.

 

The researchers discovered that the animals had longer, curlier hair, but there was no evidence that the mammoth's fat-increasing gene had any effect.

Scientists who Colossal Biosciences do not employ have expressed skepticism about the company's work.  Their issues include:

 

The Colossal team changed mouse genes that have long been linked to hair development, resulting in hairy animals.  In under five years, woolly mice have evolved into cold-adapted woolly elephants.

 

It will be difficult enough to generate one woolly elephant, but producing hundreds or thousands required to rebuild the arctic tundra will be far more arduous.

 

Genetic alterations that work in mice may cause problems in elephants, resulting in animal misery.

 

That other elephant would perceive these transformed individuals as freaks and reject them from their herd.

"This doesn't seem to have a practical use or any real scientific value," said Dr Helen Wallace of the GeneWatch campaign.

 

"It is designed to get publicity, and I think most people will be shocked," she said.

 

In reaction, the Colossal researchers claim they were underestimated.  They describe their mouse as a tool for testing whether the genetic tweaks they intend to make are efficient and safe before attempting them on elephants.

 

"Validation that this works is really exciting for this project," says Professor Beth Shapiro, the firm's chief science officer.

She adds that the company has other research programs running concurrently, such as studying embryo development and developing artificial wombs for genetically modified elephants to grow in, which the company claims will ensure that they meet their goal of producing cold-adapted elephants in a few years.

 

Prof Shapiro strongly refutes the claim that the work is worthless.  She claims that the firm's goal to reintroduce extinct animals such as the Dodo, Tasmanian Tiger, and mammoth will fill lost ecological niches, restoring biodiversity and benefiting the ecosystem.

Meanwhile, the genetic tools it is developing are already benefiting extinction-risk species, she says.  These include creating a vaccination for elephants against a lethal virus, genetically modifying marsupials in Australia known as quoll to be resistant to neurotoxins produced by the cane toad, and reinstating genetic variety in the pink pigeon in Mauritius.

 

And Professor Shapiro claims that elephants will not suffer.  The team is developing tools to filter just viable embryos, and she believes they will not be stigmatized as outsiders.

"We will merely be modifying a few letters in their DNA sequence.  The elephants will be born to moms who will not regard them as freaks because they will be extremely similar to them, just with a lot more hair and the ability to thrive in colder climes.