All around the world, scientists are working to recreate lost animal species such as the mammoth. Using modern genetic techniques, they’re extracting ancient genetic material from museum exhibits. Do their efforts represent hope for the future of the natural world? Or is science playing God? Findings in the thawed permafrost of Siberia have made it possible to reconstruct the DNA of mammoths. Researchers are now experimenting with inserting genes related to the ability to resist cold temperatures into the Asian elephant, which is related to the mammoth. The animals thus created could survive in the steppes of Siberia and Alaska. In Australia, scientists have managed to extract the genetic material of marsupial wolves from preserved embryos in museums. The predator’s genes are replicated in the lab and implanted into the related marsupial mouse - in a bid to bring the extinct creature back to life.