Scientists have recreated blood from the bones of extinct mammoths to discover how the animals evolved to survive in Arctic conditions.
An international team extracted the bones from permafrost in Siberia, extracted the DNA, sequenced the genes and put them into bacteria to grow and harvest the protein.
Professor Alan Cooper from Adelaide University says the success has unlocked the door to the biochemistry of extinct species.
The ABC reports the breakthrough has enabled scientists to learn more about the mammoth, such as how its blood make-up allowed it to survive the extreme Arctic cold.