A woolly mammoth that died in Siberia 52,000 years ago left behind an extraordinarily well-preserved body, which was freeze-dried almost instantly in the severe cold of a Siberian winter. In fact, this animal was so perfectly preserved that scientists were able to determine not just the sequence of a sample of its DNA, but the actual three-dimensional structure of its genome. In a new paper just published in the journal Cell, an international team of researchers led by experts from the Center for Evolutionary Hologenomics at the University of Copenhagen explained the unusual circumstances that allowed them to achieve this breakthrough. Representing an astonishing scientific achievement, this is the first time genetic researchers have been able to examine ancient DNA in three-dimensional form, which reveals invaluable information about the structure of the extinct animal’s genetic heritage. First Humans in New England May Have Met and Hunted Woolly Mammoths Is This Proof Early Man Weaponized Ivory from Woolly Mammoth Tusks to Kill...Woolly Mammoths?     Read moreSection: NewsEvolution & Human OriginsRead Later