Woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) once inhabited most of Europe and the northern halves of North America and Asia during the Late Pleistocene Epoch. Dating back to approximately 400,000 years ago, these members of the mammalian order Proboscidea (proboscideans) were driven to the point of extinction through a combination of climate change, inbreeding, and hunting by humans about 10,000 years ago. However, a few isolated populations managed to survive a bit longer, the last being a small population of mammoths that lived on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean off northeastern Siberia until about 4000 years ago. From locations on this island, as well as from other sites in Alaska and Siberia, a number of intact mammoth carcasses, preserved in the permanently frozen ground, have been recovered. These specimens have provided the genetic material (ancient DNA) that has been used by investigators to fully sequence the mammoth's genome (the genetic endowment of a species; that is, its complete DNA sequence). See also: Ancient DNA; De-extinction; Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA); Elephant; Elephant phylogeny; Extinction (biology); Genetic code; Genetic mapping; Genomics; Pleistocene; Proboscidea; Zooarcheology

In April 2015, a team of investigators from Stockholm University (Sweden), McMaster University (Canada), and Harvard University (USA) announced that they had deciphered the mammoth's complete genome. This notable scientific feat will provide useful information about the animal’s phylogeny (genealogical and evolutionary history) and physiology. More controversially, it might also provide scientists with the genetic material to possibly recreate this extinct creature. See also: Phylogeny

So far, using genetic engineering methods (including the CRISPR gene-editing tool), the hair, fat, and blood genes of mammoths have been inserted into laboratory-cultured stem cells from modern-day elephants in an attempt to analyze the effects of these genes. Further studies are aimed at synthetically creating a mammoth–elephant hybrid by inserting the genetic material of a mammoth into the egg cell (ovum) of a living elephant, which, if viable, could be implanted in a captive elephant. One research group from Russia and South Korea is seeking the means to clone a mammoth. See also: Biotechnology; Cloning; Cloning research; CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing; Gene; Genetic engineering; Stem cells

Efforts to bring back extinct species in a process called de-extinction, or at least to study the feasibility of bringing back extinct species, are currently under way (other candidates for de-extinction include the thylacine and passenger pigeon). However, this area of research is a very contentious and ethically questionable endeavor because of concerns about the well-being of the animals involved and the practicality of resurrecting species apart from their vanished ecological niches. It also involves a number of extremely complicated methodologies and techniques that are still in their nascent stages of development. See also: Bioethics; Thylacine: genetics of an extinct species