Chinese scientists have restored the cellular function of woolly mammoth cells, and also successfully cultured embryonic cells, announced Xu Xun, executive director of China National GeneBank in Shenzhen on Feb. 19. Xu told Technology Daily that the woolly mammoth could theoretically be brought back from extinction once a qualified surrogate is found.

Xu, also the president of Beijing Genomics Institute, said that scientists have inserted a mammoth cell nucleus, which was obtained from the complete remains of a mammoth cub in Siberia in 2013, into the cells of an Asian elephant. With the restoration of the cells' function, a complete embryo could be cultivated.

However, according to Xu, creating a live woolly mammoth would be a complicated task, as the surrogate could very well reject the cells.

"The embryonic cell could die before organs form," Xu acknowledged.

The 4.7 percent genomic variation between woolly mammoths and Asian elephants might prevent the development of the embryo. Therefore, the surrogacy would be dependent on an artificial uterus, Xu explained.

Resurrection of extinct animals is an undeniably controversial issue. Proponents of the action believe it would be a breakthrough in terms of protecting endangered species, while opponents hold that human interference in natural selection is a violation of the laws of nature.

"It's impossible to resurrect the woolly mammoth," said Yuan Xunlai, a research fellow at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The technology would only endow Asian elephants with more characteristics of the woolly mammoth, and its offspring would never be able to survive in the wild, Yuan added.