The Mission to Resurrect the Woolly Mammoth

South Korean scientists are currently working to resurrect the extinct woolly mammoth by cloning the DNA of a well-preserved specimen discovered in the Siberian snow. The hope is to find intact cells from the carcass of this 40,000-year-old frozen mammoth, which could then be used to modify the genome of its closest living relative, the Asian elephant, to more closely match that of a woolly mammoth. A surrogate Asian elephant would give birth to a hybrid mammoth, which would then breed with other hybrids to produce an animal closely resembling the extinct species.

VICE News travels to South Korea and Russia to explore humanity’s attempt to clone the legendary woolly mammoth.