[addictingscience]

Woolly Mammoth DNA has been successfully implemented into Asian elephants genes!

Geneticist George Church, professor of genetics at Harvard University, and a team of researchers copied DNA from a woolly mammoth carcass preserved in the Arctic permafrost and pasted the genetic code into an Asian elephants genome and found they function normally. The group of scientists selected genes associated with the mammoth’s ability to resist the cold, including hairiness and haemoglobin, and used a DNA editing tool called CRISPR to splice genes from the mammoths’ ears, subcutaneous fat, and hair length into the DNA of elephant skin cells. The tissue cultures represent the first time woolly mammoth genes have been functional since the last of its species went extinct on Wrangel Island around 3,300 years ago.

While the experiment takes a bold, new step in genetic research, it’s also prompted debates over the ethics of the procedure within the scientific community. What do you guys think?

[addictingscience]

Costa Rica has successfully ditched fossil fuels for over two months! 

The Latin American country of Costa Rica has achieved an impressive milestone in green energy production by generating 100 per cent of its energy from renewable resources, with a combination of hydropower and geothermal for 75 days in a row. Thanks to the favorable rainy conditions in the first months of the year, four of Costa Rica’s hydropower plants — Arenal, Cachí, La Angostura and Pirrís — are generating nearly enough electricity to power the entire country. Using a mix of geothermal, solar, and wind energy sources, the nation of 5 million inhabitants hasn’t needed an ounce of coal or petroleum to keep the lights on since December of 2014.

What an extraordinary effort by a small nation! Way to go!