Artificial blood from prehistoric elephants

Prehistoric mammoth DNA is helping scientists develop artificial blood products for modern medicine.

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According to Dr. Chien Ho and colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh (USA), in migrating to colder regions of the Eurasian continent 1.2-2 million years ago in the Pleistocene period (Renovation period), long-haired mammoths have adapted to the new environment by developing long, thick, smooth hairs and smaller ears that help retain heat, as well as by changing DNA.

Mammoths are on display at the Swiss Museum of Natural History Neuchâtel - (Photo: Rama)

Ho's group had previously conducted many studies on long-haired mammoths. They found a blood protein (hemoglobin) that transports oxygen from the lungs throughout the body of a long-haired mammoth that changes DNA, making it different from its cousin 's DNA. is an Asian elephant.

Scientists can now develop new blood products to support modern medical interventions, which include reducing the patient's body temperature. According to a research report published in the latest Biochemistry of the American Chemical Society, Mr. Ho and his colleagues are aiming for variants that have helped mammoths survive for many years.

What makes this study interesting and remarkable is that mammoth blood samples are not available. To complete the study, experts created a laboratory hemoglobin protein using fragmented DNA sequences from three mammoths that died in Siberia from 25,000 to 43,000 years ago.

Researchers cannot use human hemoglobin or Asian elephants because long-haired mammoth proteins are less sensitive to temperature changes. This is especially important because even in a cold environment, long-haired hemoglobin can easily 'unburden' oxygen to tissues in the cold season. The hemoglobin of Asian humans and elephants cannot do this.

Ho's team believes that the ability to adapt to the cold environment that long-haired mammoths have is due to at least two variations in the animal's hemoglobin gene. In short, Carnegie Mellon University research may lead to the design of new artificial blood products or use in hypothermia that occurs in heart and brain surgeries.