Mammoth unearthed
In May 2013, researchers Semyon Grigoriev and colleagues at North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk recently unearthed an astonishingly well-preserved mammoth carcass on an island off the coast of Siberia.
Fresh blood
The researchers said the carcass, which had been partially buried in the ice, was so well preserved that it contained flowing blood.
Oozing blood
When the team struck at it with a pick, blood flowed from the carcass.
Pristine condition
The blood found suggests that the mammoth was possibly the best preserved mammoth found.
Tissue find
But though the blood is a promising sign, there's no telling whether the cells inside the mammoth are in good enough condition to yield usable DNA. The ultimate goal is to clone a woolly mammoth.
Partially eaten
The team estimates that the mammoth lived about 10,000 years ago. The upper torso and legs were gnawed on by predators.
Carrying back
After the discovery, the researchers carried the mammoth across the frozen terrain on a sled.
Research hopes
If the team finds intact white blood cells or tissue cells, they may be able to extract relatively long segments of DNA. Still, it's incredibly unlikely that the material will be in good enough condition to make cloning a mammoth a reality.
Cloned creature
South Korean, Japanese and Russian teams are working to clone a mammoth by piecing together snippets of DNA found in mammoth fossils using the elephant genome as a template. Afterwards, they would inject mammoth DNA into the egg of an elephant and have an elephant gestate the extinct creature for 22 months.
