A woolly mammoth that died 52,000 years ago is so well preserved that it is possible both to read its full genome and to reconstruct the three-dimensional structure of its chromosomes ?" information that can provide unprecedented details about how the animal's genes behaved during its life. The extraordinary feat was possible because the animal's remains were naturally freeze-dried, preserving its DNA in a glass-like state. Scientists found the mammoth remains in a cave in Siberia in 2018 where they had been preserved in the permafrost. The mammoth's tissues were dry, "but not as dry as commercial beef jerky", says Olga Dudchenko at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, "and it was actually woolly". Eager to see what genetic information they could glean, Dudchenko and her colleagues sampled flesh behind the mammoth's ear and sequenced the DNA.