The discovery was made by an international team of scientists who are also hoping in future to clone the extinct woolly mammoth from genetic material frozen in permafrost.
A picture shows the Ice Age blood in a test tube at a laboratory in Yakutsk, the coldest city in the world. The discovery was made by an international team of scientists who are also hoping in future to clone the extinct woolly mammoth from genetic material frozen in permafrost
Dr Grigoryev, head of the Mammoth Museum in Yakutsk said the autopsy on the foal shows ‘beautifully preserved internal organs’. The prehistoric baby horse died from drowning aged less than two weeks old, he said
‘Samples of liquid blood were taken from heart vessels – it was preserved in the liquid state for 42,000 years thanks to favourable burial conditions and permafrost,’ he said, reported The Siberian Times.
There are no artists impression of the exact species Lemskaya – of which the 42,00 year old foal belongs – but it is believed to have looked similar to this pictured foal, which is a modern day descendent, the Yakutian horse
The foal was originally dug out of the permafrost last summer but the blood was only extracted on 28 February. It’s discovery was kept secret until today
It is believed to be the oldest blood ever found in the world – and boosts hopes of cloning back to life the long-gone Lenskaya species of prehistoric horse. Pictured, researchers analysis the blood sample from the foal
Work is so advanced that the team is reportedly already choosing a surrogate mother for the historic role of giving birth to the ancient horse
The international research team is led by South Korean cloning expert Professor Hwang Woo-suk, who is also closely involved in efforts to use remains of woolly mammoths preserved in permafrost bring the giants back to life
Scientists will use closely-related modern-day horses (pictured) that are similar to the extinct Lenskaya breed and live in the same region to act as a surrogate mother for the clone. It could be the first step in working out how to restore the long-gone woolly mammoth and would look similar to these modern animals
Scientists have said they are ‘confident of success’ in extracting cells from a 42,000 year old extinct foal in order to clone its prehistoric species back to life, say reports