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2h ago

Scientists Sequence 39,000-Year-Old Mammoth RNA, Opening a New Window on Extinct Life

The Cell study shows RNA can persist in permafrost to reveal tissue-specific gene activity from extinct animals.

The Yuka mammoth on display in a frozen collection.
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The skin and ear from part of the skull of a woolly mammoth that was one of 10 samples included in the study. The skin was discovered in 2018 in Belaya Gora, near the Indigirka River in Siberia.

Overview

  • Stockholm University researchers isolated and sequenced the oldest known RNA from a permafrost-preserved woolly mammoth named Yuka, dating to roughly 39,000–40,000 years.
  • Screening muscle and skin from 10 mammoths found detectable ancient RNA in three specimens, but only Yuka’s tissue met the quality needed for detailed transcriptomic analysis.
  • Yuka’s muscle RNA captured a snapshot of genes active near death, including expression linked to muscle contraction and metabolic stress responses.
  • The team cataloged 342 messenger RNAs and 902 noncoding RNAs, identified two previously unknown microRNAs (Mpr-Novel-4 and Mpr-Novel-5), and confirmed Yuka was male using RNA supported by DNA.
  • Authors emphasize that such preservation is rare and context-dependent, and they urge expanded sampling to refine methods and explore applications such as integrating RNA with ancient DNA and proteins or probing preserved RNA viruses.