Scientists plan to clone Woolly Mammoth

[Nerys Ghemor]

I think it is a bad idea.

There isn't a natural environment to put mammoths back into anymore. The best they could expect could expect is a life in captivity.

Unless Siberia would fit the bill?

Now if a thylacine could be clone that would probably be a different matter as the species could be reintoduced into the wild in Tasmania without the ecology being upset.

Why? Is the ecology currently more upset from not having a thylacine than it would be by reintroducing one? Given that the extinction was recent, I was just curious to know if that's what you meant.

 

[SeerSGB]

In a way it sounds awesome. And who knows what benefits could be reaped from he endeavor. ON the flip side, it's a bit sad to think that if this works, it'll be the first on it's kind in thousands of years, but the possibly the last as well.

I doubt it would work, if it's really to the advanced level the article states, but even if it is, and even if they can, I think it would be a bad idea.

Bah humbug!!

It would be a freaking awesome thing to do!

Mr Awe

So many bad ideals have started with this very phrase. To be followed by "You have the right to remain silent..."

 

[Deckerd]

You can read between as many lines as you like but you won't see me getting all god-bothery on you. I know a commercial decision masquerading as science when I see one.

What's the difference between one extinct species and another? Why draw the line with dinosaurs? That isn't logical.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

You can read between as many lines as you like but you won't see me getting all god-bothery on you. I know a commercial decision masquerading as science when I see one.

What's the difference between one extinct species and another? Why draw the line with dinosaurs? That isn't logical.

Who said anything about drawing the line? And when did I even say anything remotely commercial? You snark at me for reading between the lines of your posts, while doing the same to me!

I joked about eating extinct animals. I don't actually think bringing extinct species back will ever be profitable, however it is an excellent research opportunity.

 

[Amaris]

Personally, I'd like it if we'd clone the cat people, starting with Cheetarah, and I have no ulterior motives in that whatsoever.

 

[Deckerd]

You can read between as many lines as you like but you won't see me getting all god-bothery on you. I know a commercial decision masquerading as science when I see one.

What's the difference between one extinct species and another? Why draw the line with dinosaurs? That isn't logical.

Who said anything about drawing the line? And when did I even say anything remotely commercial? You snark at me for reading between the lines of your posts, while doing the same to me!


I joked about eating extinct animals. I don't actually think bringing extinct species back will ever be profitable, however it is an excellent research opportunity.

If it was a joke it wasn't very funny. You sound really angry, in fact.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Personally, I'd like it if we'd clone the cat people, starting with Cheetarah, and I have no ulterior motives in that whatsoever.

That's just nasty.

You can read between as many lines as you like but you won't see me getting all god-bothery on you. I know a commercial decision masquerading as science when I see one.

What's the difference between one extinct species and another? Why draw the line with dinosaurs? That isn't logical.

Who said anything about drawing the line? And when did I even say anything remotely commercial? You snark at me for reading between the lines of your posts, while doing the same to me!


I joked about eating extinct animals. I don't actually think bringing extinct species back will ever be profitable, however it is an excellent research opportunity.

If it was a joke it wasn't very funny. You sound really angry, in fact.

There's no accounting for taste. And you can even read that multiple ways.

I'm not angry, just annoyed. You've failed to back up your argument even a tiny little bit, while accusing me of making an argument I didn't. If you don't actually want to discuss this topic, then don't.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

You can read between as many lines as you like but you won't see me getting all god-bothery on you. I know a commercial decision masquerading as science when I see one.

What's the difference between one extinct species and another? Why draw the line with dinosaurs? That isn't logical.

Everyone knows you're an anti-sciency, hardline god-bothery type.

 

[Deckerd]

No Robert's told me to get out. I'm not worthy.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

No Robert's told me to get out. I'm not worthy.

Go make your own Mammoth thread, with blackjack and hookers.

 

[Kestra]

He disagrees with you and you guys are both getting frustrated because you're presumably misinterpreting each other's posts. That's not telling you to get out, or that you're "god-bothery"!

I've also never heard that term before.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

He disagrees with you and you guys are both getting frustrated because you're presumably misinterpreting each other's posts. That's not telling you to get out, or that you're "god-bothery"!

I've also never heard that term before.

Shush! It's a nice spat going on there.

 

[Kestra]

I don't like when two people I like fight with each other.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I don't like when two people I like fight with each other.

No Christmas with family then?

 

[Kestra]

I don't like when two people I like fight with each other.

No Christmas with family then?

No one else on my side of the family celebrates Christmas. And my in-laws are astonishingly drama free, though we're not going back for Christmas this year anyway.

Actually it's kind of ridiculous when I think about it, how well my husband's family gets along with one another.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I don't like when two people I like fight with each other.

No Christmas with family then?

No one else on my side of the family celebrates Christmas. And my in-laws are astonishingly drama free, though we're not going back for Christmas this year anyway.

Actually it's kind of ridiculous when I think about it, how well my husband's family gets along with one another.

I was going to put "Family get togethers" but I thought well it is nearly Christmas.
They get along well even when there's drink about? They're not normal.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I think it is a bad idea.

There isn't a natural environment to put mammoths back into anymore. The best they could expect could expect is a life in captivity.

Unless Siberia would fit the bill?

Now if a thylacine could be clone that would probably be a different matter as the species could be reintoduced into the wild in Tasmania without the ecology being upset.

Why? Is the ecology currently more upset from not having a thylacine than it would be by reintroducing one? Given that the extinction was recent, I was just curious to know if that's what you meant.

The thylacine's prey is common, under no threat, and often has to be culled. Add to this the fact that the reintroduced thylacine is likely to feed on rabbits than reintroducing them would most like be beneficial to wildlife.

The main problem would be determining how they would affect its two natural competitors - the quoll and the Tasmanian devil. It probably isn't in too much competition with the devil because the devil is a scavenger while the thylacine never was. The cat is probably more of a threat to quolls (as a competitor) than the thylacine would be.

The main problem with any reintroduction would be the Devil Facial Tumor Disease which has decimated the devil population. The devil is facing a serious threat and no-one knows the origin of the disease. So far it hasn't been found in any other species and, as it is only spread by devils biting each other when fighting it is unlikely to jump species. However the devl declining numbers mean that it would be wong to use any female devil as a surrogate mother for a thylacine. Devil mothers need to be used to boost their own species.

 

[sojourner]

Screw the mammoth. Someone resurrect the Mastodon.

 

[scotpens]

You really shouldnt mess with mother nature. She's a bitch when it comes to punishments.

That admonishment is a bit late, isn't it? We've been messing with Mother Nature ever since the beginning of agriculture. Or, for that matter, since we discovered how to make fire.

. . . The biggest problem with cloning a thylacine is the lack of a surrogate species and the fact that there would be very little genetic diversity within cloned species.

You mentioned using a female Tasmanian devil as a surrogate. Could a cloned thylacine embryo be implanted in the uterus of one of its other marsupial relatives, like a kangaroo?

I can just imagine the mama kangaroo seeing the baby in her pouch: "Crikey, what the bloody hell is THAT?"

There's nothing logical about resurrecting extinct species.

There's nothing logical about breeding hairless cats, or dogs so small they can fit in your pocket. But we do it.

Personally, I'd like it if we'd clone the cat people, starting with Cheetarah, and I have no ulterior motives in that whatsoever.

I'm all for cloning cat people, starting with Nastassia Kinski.

 

[B.J.]

Putting aside the ethical problem for a moment, I saw a TV show a couple years ago that covered this exact thing. The thing is, even if they managed to get viable cells, the resulting animal would be a hybrid of a mammoth and an elephant. It would take several generations to produce a mostly-pure mammoth.

They aren't talking about a hybrid, but a clone, which would be born 100% mammoth. The elephant would only provide the womb for the clone to incubate in, not any genetic material.

Um, no. From the article linked in the OP:

While most of the genetic coding of the embryo would come from the mammoth, some would come from the elephant ovum.
"We really don't know what the contribution of that cytoplasmic material is, or how it would interact with 'alien' DNA," he said.
It would however mean that, even if successful, the clone would be a hybrid rather than a pure mammoth.