A young woolly mammoth now known as Yuka
was frozen in the Siberian permafrost for about 40,000 years
before it was discovered by local tusk hunters in 2010.

The hunters soon handed it over to scientists,
who were excited to see its exquisite level of preservation,
with skin, muscle tissue, and even reddish hair intact.
Later research showed that,
while full cloning was impossible,
Yuka’s DNA was in such good condition that some cell nuclei could even begin limited activity when placed inside mouse eggs.
Now, a team has successfully sequenced Yuka’s RNA
—a feat many researchers once thought impossible.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/11/worlds-oldest-rna-extracted-from-ice-age-woolly-mammoth/