Reviving The Woolly Mammoth ... With Mice

Short Wave

NPR

Daily News, Nature, Life Sciences, Astronomy, Science, News

4.7 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 4 March 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

You've heard of the woolly mammoth. But have you heard of woolly mice? These critters were genetically modified by the Dallas-based biotech company Colossal Biosciences to have the same "woolly" and fat appearance as the ancient mammoths. The mice are a key step in the longer journey to de-extinct the woolly mammoth. NPR's Rob Stein takes us to the lab where it all happened.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This message comes from Wondery.
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0:21.5	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:26.6	Hey there, shortwaver's Regina Barber here.
0:28.6	And today I'm joined by NPR's Rob Stein.
0:30.9	Hey, Rob.
0:31.3	Hey, Gina.
0:32.2	Rob, you're usually here to talk about stuff related to health like COVID or CRISPR or organ transplants, but word on the
0:39.2	street is today is a little different. Yep. I'm here this time to talk about little fuzzy,
0:44.6	squeaky animals. Okay. Let me guess. Do they like cheese? How did you know? Yes, indeed. I'm
0:51.3	talking about mice. And these aren't just any mice. Okay. These are, wait for it, woolly mice.
0:59.9	Okay. Woolly mice. Rob, what makes them woolly? Well, Tina, you've heard of the woolly mammoth, right?
1:06.9	Of course. I love those hairy elephants. They used to roam the tundra. They were actually still around when the pyramids were built.
1:14.0	Exactly. Before they went extinct, thousands of years ago, maybe because of climate change and hunting.
1:19.9	Okay, so these mice, they're like miniature versions of woolly mammoths?
1:23.5	Bingo.
1:24.4	Cool. Okay. But why are you bringing them up now?
1:27.8	Well, because someday, some scientists want to bring a mammoth-like creature itself back from extinction.
1:34.8	Wow.
1:35.3	So they have, like, Jurassic Park-like intentions?
	...

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