【VOA】SE081208_Science In the News.pdfVIP

Mapping the Genes of the Woolly Mammoth (No Living Example Needed) Also: An American researcher finds an unusual-looking insect in Brazil. And a warning about letting children have exotic pets. Transcript of radio broadcast: 08 December 2008 VOICE ONE: This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. Im Bob Doughty. VOICE TWO: And Im Barbara Klein. This week, we will tell about a genetic map for an animal that disappeared long ago. We will tell about an unusual-looking insect from South America. And we will tell about a reported link between animals and health problems in children. (MUSIC) VOICE ONE: Scientists say they have completed most of a genetic map for an ancient creature -- the woolly mammoth. The map is said to be the first to show the genetic structure of an animal that no longer exists. Biologists at the Pennsylvania State University studied the remains of two woolly mammoths from Siberia. One mammoth lived twenty thousand years ago. The other lived at least sixty thousand years ago. VOICE TWO: Woolly mammoth The woolly mammoth belongs to a species, or group, linked to the modern African elephant. With its thick, long hair, the now extinct mammoth was able to survive in cold weather. Lead researcher Stephan Schuster says the mammoth and African elephant share more than ninety-nine percent of their genetic material. STEPHAN SCHUSTER:So this tells you that they are very, very similar. And also, just because the mammoth is extinct does not mean it is an ancient elephant. It is as modern as an Asian or African elephant. But unfortunately, it had the bad luck to go extinct before today. VOICE TWO: Mister Schuster and the research team studied genes, or DNA, that were found in long pieces of mammoth hair. They say genes from hair are better to study than those from bones or other remains. That is because the genes from hair are less likely to mix with other ki