Mammoth Genome Researchers Keep Hitting the Wall
"The Mammoth Rebirth": the Center for Molecular Paleontology will open in NEFU
Andrey Lupanov, NEFU News Editorial Office
On March 16, an international scientific seminar on modern methods of fossil animal research will start at Northeastern Federal University. Within the framework of the event, the grand opening of the International Center for Collective Use "Molecular Paleontology" of the Institute of Applied Ecology of the North of NEFU will take place.
The Center for Collective Use "Molecular Paleontology" will be the first and only place in Russia where research will be conducted on the latest equipment using unique technologies to search for living mammoth cells and study the DNA of ancient animals.
"The center will be opened on March 17. The tasks that he will solve are represented by two main directions. Firstly, it is the study of the cells of the Malolyakhovsky mammoth in the framework of a joint project of NEFU and the SOOAM Foundation for Biotechnological Research "The Revival of the mammoth and other fossil animals". Secondly, the study of the DNA of other fossil animals, comparing them with modern species,"– said the chief researcher of the laboratory "Mammoth Museum" IPES NEFU Semen Grigoriev.
The head of the SOOAM Biotechnological Research Foundation, Professor Hwang Woo Seok, will talk about the preliminary results of studying the cells of the Malolyakhovsky mammoth. In addition to the speeches of a number of leading paleontologists, practical classes on working with cellular material are planned during the seminar, which will be conducted by Korean geneticists for employees of the center for collective use "Molecular Paleontology" and students of the Institute of Natural Sciences.
The international seminar will be attended by representatives of the Universities of Groningen and Leiden (the Netherlands), the I.I. Mechnikov Northwestern State Medical University and the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg). The seminar will end on March 18.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru16.03.2015