Mammoth step forward

WOOLLY mammoths may walk again thanks to Jurassic Park-style cloning technology, scientists said today.

The giant furry beasts, which which have been extinct for around 10,000 years, could be bred from DNA found in fragments of ancient bone marrow.

It has been extracted from a well-preserved thigh bone found frozen deep underground in Siberia.

Russian and Japanese scientists hope it will help them bring the woolly mammoth, which stood up to 13ft tall and weighed almost nine tons, back to life.

Scientists from the Sakha Republic's mammoth museum and Kinki University will transplant nuclei from the bone marrow cells into elephant egg cells.

This will hopefully create a mammoth embryo which can be planted in an elephant womb for birth.   More