For the first time, scientists have successfully sequenced woolly mammoth RNA, shattering the assumption that this fragile genetic molecule couldn't survive from so long ago.
RNA, or ribonucleic acid, carries instructions between DNA and an organism's protein-building machinery, acting as a messenger to turn genetic information into proteins. RNA can reveal which genes are active in a cell at a given moment, as well as how gene-activity patterns within a cell change over time. Thus, ancient RNA can inform scientists about the cellular states of extinct species.
