Researchers have successfully extracted and sequenced ancient RNA from the tissues of 10 woolly mammoths preserved in permafrost. One of these specimens is estimated to be 39,000 years old, making it the oldest ancient RNA sequence recorded to date.
Marmol Sanchez et al. Ancient RNA sequences identified in late Pleistocene woolly mammoth tissue. Image credit: Marmol Sanchez et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.10.025.
Investigating prehistoric genes and their activation is crucial for understanding the biology and evolution of extinct species.
For years, scientists have been piecing together the mammoth genome and their evolutionary history through DNA analysis.
However, RNA, which indicates active genes, has remained elusive until now.
“With RNA, we can provide direct evidence of which genes are ‘turned on’ and gain insights into the final moments of mammoths that lived during the last Ice Age,” stated Dr. Emilio Marmol, a researcher at the Globe Institute.
“This kind of information cannot be obtained from DNA alone.”
In this study, Dr. Marmol and colleagues analyzed permafrost-preserved tissue from 10 late Pleistocene woolly mammoths discovered in northeastern Siberia, spanning from the central Indigirka region to the Oyogos Yar coast and the New Siberian Islands.
“We accessed exceptionally well-preserved mammoth tissue excavated from the Siberian permafrost, expecting it to contain RNA molecules that had remained frozen over millennia,” Marmol mentioned.
“We have pushed the limits of DNA recovery for over a million years,” said Professor Rav Dalen from Stockholm University and the Center for Paleogenetics.
“Now we aimed to determine if RNA sequencing could go further back than prior research.”
Researchers successfully identified tissue-specific gene expression patterns in the muscular remains of Yuka, a 39,000-year-old juvenile mammoth.
There are over 20,000 protein-coding genes in the mammoth genome, but not all are actively expressed.
The detected RNA molecules relate to proteins crucial for muscle contraction and metabolic regulation under stress.
Researchers also discovered several RNA molecules that regulate gene activity in mammoth muscle samples.
“We found non-protein-coding RNAs, such as microRNAs, which were among our most intriguing discoveries,” Dr. Mark Friedlander from Stockholm University’s Wenner-Gren Institute remarked.
“The muscle-specific microRNAs identified in mammoth tissue provide concrete evidence of gene regulation occurring in real-time in ancient eras. This is a groundbreaking achievement.”
The identified microRNAs also enabled the authors to confirm their findings originated from mammoths.
“We found a rare mutation in a specific microRNA, providing evidence that it is of mammoth origin,” noted Dr. Bastian Flom from the Norwegian Arctic University Museum.
“We also uncovered novel genes solely based on RNA evidence, a feat not attempted before at such ancient sites.”
“RNA molecules can endure for much longer than previously assumed.”
“Our findings demonstrate that RNA can survive much longer than previously thought,” Professor Dalen added.
“This allows us to not only explore which genes are ‘turned on’ in various extinct creatures but also to sequence RNA viruses like influenza and coronaviruses that are preserved in Ice Age remains.”
These findings were published in the Journal of Cell on November 14, 2025.
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Emilio Marmol-Sanchez et al. Ancient RNA expression profiles from extinct woolly mammoths. Cell published online on November 14, 2025. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.10.025
Source: www.sci.news
