Scientists took a big step in their attempt to bring back the woolly mammoth, having genetically engineered a "woolly mouse" which has curly whiskers and wavy, light hair that apparently can grow three times longer than that of an ordinary lab mouse. 

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The woolly mammoth is an extinct species that lived during the Pleistocene epoch, or around 200,000 to 4,000 years ago. 

The scientists at Colossal Biosciences said that this "woolly mouse" marks a step toward achieving the ultimate goal, which is to bring a woolly mammoth-like creature back from extinction. 

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'Watershed moment in de-extinction mission'  

Colossal announced on Tuesday that its scientists have simultaneously edited seven genes in mice embryos to create these mice. They nicknamed the extra-furry rodents as the "Colossal woolly mouse". 

Ben Lamm, Colossal's co-founder and chief executive, in the press release, said, "The Colossal Woolly Mouse marks a watershed moment in our de-extinction mission." 

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Beth Shapiro, who is the chief science officer at Colossal Biosciences, said: "For us, it's an incredibly big deal."

Results were posted online, but they have not yet been published in a journal or vetted by independent scientists.

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As quoted by NPR, Shapiro said, "This is really validation that what we have in mind for our longer-term de-extinction project is really going to work". 

The company also said that reviving extinct species like the mammoth, the dodo and others could help repair ecosystems. The critics, however, believe that de-extinction would not be safe for the animals or the environment. 

Shapiro and her team started by attempting to pinpoint the genes that give mammoths their unique characteristics.

The genetic sequences of African and Asian elephants were compared with ancient samples of mammoth genetic material. Elephants are the closest surviving relatives of mammoths. 

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As quoted by NPR, Karl Flessa, a professor of geosciences at the University of Arizona, said, "They sort of want to mess around on a pretty large scale. I don't know what the downside of having a bunch of hairy Asian elephants stomping around in the tundra might be." 

"I don't know what would happen. They don't know what would happen. They can't really assure me that, 'Oh, everything will be just fine. Everything will be just like it was back in the Pleistocene.' I'm not ready to play God like that," Flessa added. 

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(With inputs from agencies)