OREANDA-NEWS. The company Colossal, created by Texas entrepreneur Ben Lamm and geneticist George Church, has presented a plan for the revival of extinct individuals — the first project will be the restoration of the mammoth population in the Arctic.

Scientists with the help of genetic engineering plan to create a new type of animals similar to a woolly mammoth. The genes of endangered Indian elephants will be taken as a basis — this will allow the new "mammoth" to withstand Arctic temperatures. In addition, it will have resistance to the herpes virus.

According to Colossal, despite the genes of elephants, the animal will look and behave like a mammoth.

The hybrid of a mammoth and an elephant will be grown in laboratory conditions-first it will be implanted in the endometrium, and then placed in a special "bag" similar to an artificial uterus. The appearance of the first mammoth is expected in six years.

Supporters of the project note that the restoration of the mammoth population in the Arctic can slow down global warming by slowing the melting of permafrost.

The project has already received funding in the amount of $15 million, - the investors were the founder of Tulco, Thomas Tull, Draper Associates, Winklevoss Capital, as well as motivational speaker Anthony Robbins.

The melting of permafrost in the Arctic significantly exacerbates global warming due to the release of large amounts of methane, which has a powerful greenhouse effect. The Arctic is warming faster than any other region on Earth — according to the World Wildlife Fund, the rate of temperature increase in the Arctic territories is twice as high as in other parts of the planet. Nevertheless, the consequences of this process are felt all over the world — for example, scientists explain this extreme cold in some parts of the United States and East Asia.

In this context, the revival of the mammoth population can slow down the processes of permafrost melting. First, the animals are tamping down the snow, which will reduce methane emissions into the atmosphere. Secondly, the colonization of the Arctic by mammoths will lead to the restoration of the degraded ecosystem of the region due to the appearance of a grassy cover, which will also have a positive impact on the environment.