Bringing back the Wooly Mammoth one mouse at a time

[Catherine]

There is work being done to restore some extinct species. In particular, they want to restore the Woolly mammoth. They have DNA from Mammoth specimens, but it is old and degraded. Right now they are working with small amounts of DNA for certain traits. They have taken the genes that make the Woolly Mammoths, woolly and put them in mice. That gives us woolly mice.
They have proven they can make a long haired animal. 

https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/...fa588d870a

The woolly mice are a long way from being woolly mammoths, but they are part of the process.
They are really cute. Will they help us get the mammoth back? We don't know yet.
The idea is to restore some of the species that humans drove to extinction.
There is a thought that these animals would be part of restoring the habitats where they lived. They could stabilize the ecology of an area.
We already know that restoring things like wolves, beavers and buffalo has  had a positive effect.
Maybe these older extinct animals would have the same effect.
I would love to see the Woolly Mammoths roaming the arctic.  What a sight that would be.