Gene transcripts from ancient wolf analyzed after 14,000 years in permafrost

EurekAlert! ^ | July 30, 2019 | PLOS

[SunkenCiv]

RNA -- the short-lived transcripts of genes -- from the "Tumat puppy", a wolf of the Pleistocene era has been isolated, and its sequence analyzed in a new study by Oliver Smith of the University of Copenhagen and colleagues publishing on July 30 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology. The results establish the possibility of examining a range of RNA transcripts from ancient organisms, a possibility previously thought to be extremely unlikely because of the short lifespan of RNA.

DNA, which encodes the "hard copy" of genes, is known to survive for thousands of years under favourable conditions. But RNA -- the short-lived working copy of a gene, which is transcribed from DNA in the cell and forms the instructions for making proteins -- is rapidly broken down in living tissue by a suite of recycling enzymes. That instability typically continues after death, and because of that, researchers have generally assumed that the likelihood of finding intact an ancient cell's complement of RNA -- its transcriptome -- was vanishingly small. But there have been a few exceptions, mostly in plants, which led the authors to ask whether there might be ancient animal transcriptomes well-preserved enough to be sequenced.

They isolated and analyzed RNA from liver tissue of a 14,300-year-old canid, possibly a wolf or partially domesticated wolf-like creature, that had been preserved in Siberian permafrost until its discovery, as well as tissue from two 19th- and 20th-century wolves for comparison. Using a variety of transcriptomic techniques and quality control measures, the team showed that the RNA sequenced from the Pleistocene-era canid was truly representative of the animal's RNA, with many liver-specific transcripts that matched more modern samples from both wolves and dogs.

[SunkenCiv]

• Autopsy carried out in Far East on world's oldest dog mummified by ice
• Ice Age puppies found preserved in Russian permafrost - were they caveman's best friends?

[SunkenCiv]

[null and void]

I hope they don’t make a dire mistake...

[Salamander]

Ahhhhhh...ha ha ha ha....

/praying they remake Dire Wolves because Woolly mammoths bore me

[SunkenCiv]

Tusk, tusk you two.

[Salamander]

lol

[jimtorr]

Dire wolves. Sure, dogs you can ride, like in LOTR.

[Salamander]

I see no downside there.

:D

[Sparticus]

What could possibly go wrong?

[zeestephen]

Re: dogs you can ride

Renesmee and Jacob - Twilight Saga - Breaking Dawn Part 2

[Salamander]

NOTHING!!!

LOL

[PIF]

praying they remake Dire Wolves because Woolly mammoths bore me

---

Then the resurrection of Short Faced Bears ought to really get your blood pumping! Although, if one caught sight of you, the blood pumping would swiftly cease ...

[riverrunner]

We have firearms big enough to take care of both of them.

[PIF]

We have firearms big enough to take care of both of them.

---

Still not big enough to prevent death by ordinary black or grizzly bear. Every year some are killed and a few eaten. Good luck with the Short Faced Bear which makes a grizzly bear seem tiny ...

[Salamander]

Nope nope nope!!!

No bears!

Do not like bears!

NOPE!

:D

[Salamander]

[riverrunner]

Thousands of bears are killed every year by hunters with no harm to the hunters.

The idea that fire arms are not effective against bears is just BS .

I seen a lot of shot with all different kinds of firearms the bears have all died.

[PIF]

I did not say guns are ineffective. Just that Short Faced bears were very dangerous and deadly.

[PIF]

Thousands of bears are killed every year by hunters with no harm to the hunters.

---

That only happens when hunters are hunting the bear, not when the bear is hunting the hunter. Bears sneak up on you or charge out of dense brush. Short Faced bears would eat a large Grisly for breakfast - you would be a snack on the way to dinner.

No one said "fire arms are not effective against bears" - just that only works when you have a fire arm, and are aware of the nearby bear. Else its becomes a different story ...

Be sure you have a large enough caliber ...

[oldasrocks]

Gonna need a bigger pooper scooper with a dog that sized.