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A 'high chance' to clone the Woolly Mammoth


Still Waters

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Discovery of blood in creature frozen for 43,000 years is seen as major breakthrough by international team.

The experts believe they will be able to extract high quality DNA from the remains which have undergone a unique autopsy in Yakutsk, capital of the Sakha Repblic, also called Yakutia. There was palpable excitement among the team which included scientists from Russia, the UK, the USA, Denmark, South Korea and Moldova.

http://siberiantimes...woolly-mammoth/

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http://www.unexplain...howtopic=248694

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Hope they are successful. Of course it will take several mammoths of both sexes to make any kind of a viable population and even that would be dicy given the low genetic diversity of having so few animals for breeding. The mammoth was no doubt an important species, African Elephants keep waterholes open during the dry season with their digging using their tusks, and it's possible that mammoths provided some benefit to other tundra animals now lost due to their extinction.

Of course it's a long way from having DNA samples to having a live animal, still further to having a captive population, and still much further to having a viable wild herd of mammoths. But would it not be amazing?!

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Why?

What is the point of resurrecting a creature that basically has no place in the natural world? Even if it has the genes of both a mammoth and modern elephant, what essentially is the goal other than to satisfy curiosity?

What then?

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Why?

What is the point of resurrecting a creature that basically has no place in the natural world? Even if it has the genes of both a mammoth and modern elephant, what essentially is the goal other than to satisfy curiosity?

What then?

why? why not? I think it would interesting to see a live mammoth. Studying a live one could also lead scientists to learn alot about evolution, how ancient speices differ from modern ones and perhaps even lead to a further understanding of our own ancestors. It would also help to confirm or debunk current hypothesis about the speices. It's exactly what science is out to do.

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Hope they are successful. Of course it will take several mammoths of both sexes to make any kind of a viable population and even that would be dicy given the low genetic diversity of having so few animals for breeding. The mammoth was no doubt an important species, African Elephants keep waterholes open during the dry season with their digging using their tusks, and it's possible that mammoths provided some benefit to other tundra animals now lost due to their extinction.

Of course it's a long way from having DNA samples to having a live animal, still further to having a captive population, and still much further to having a viable wild herd of mammoths. But would it not be amazing?!

I wonder if they could breed with modern day elephants and if the offspring would share enough of the mammoths characterisics to survive in the wild artic regions. This is one possible way to get enough genetic diversity to perhaps kickstart a wild population. That said I personally don't think it would be a good idea to reintroduce them into the wild regardless. Ecosystems can be fragile and who knows the consequencs of bringing back a long dead species.

Edited by trancelikestate
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Do it!!!!

Incidently, mammoths aren't that long extinct. The last population lived on a Russian island whose name escapes me and finally died out around 1600 BCE.

Wrangel Island. And some remained on the American mainland until about 10000 years ago. Not a very long time.

Edited by Imaginarynumber1
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I wonder if they could breed with modern day elephants and if the offspring would share enough of the mammoths characterisics to survive in the wild artic regions. This is one possible way to get enough genetic diversity to perhaps kickstart a wild population. That said I personally don't think it would be a good idea to reintroduce them into the wild regardless. Ecosystems can be fragile and who knows the consequencs of bringing back a long dead species.

The mammoth only died out some 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. I read somewhere that the reintroduction of various arctic animals had the effect of turning pure tundra into grassland and mammoths would have been an original part of this ecosystem. What we have now is only an incomplete wild system, and though we may never be able to bring back all the species that once roamed the arctic, the mammoth could well have been a key species and might have positive effects when restored to its native range.

Here is a video about the wolf and Yellowstone. It was hotly debated about returning the wolf to its former range, but it seems to have positive and unexpected changes to the park. Perhaps because it is a predator and not a herbivore like the mammoth the effects are more pronounced, but it would be relatively easy to monitor a few dozen mammoth to see what changes they make to the ecosystem.

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Why?

What is the point of resurrecting a creature that basically has no place in the natural world? Even if it has the genes of both a mammoth and modern elephant, what essentially is the goal other than to satisfy curiosity?

What then?

The amount of money generated by the people around the world willing to see a Woolly mammoth at a zoo is in the hundreds of millions of dollars. That might be one of the reasons, but its probably just because they can do it.

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Awesome. I can't wait for the day they figure out a way to clone dinosaurs. Now that would be incredible.

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Ronald McDonald will be rubbing his dirty little hands together. New McMammoth McRib Burger!

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Could they just get around to doing it as I am getting bored of this story getting cloned every 6 months.

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As awesome it would be to see a live mammoth, I believe they shouldn't do this. There wouldn't be a population big enough to provide genetic diversity, so the only way to reproduce the individuals would be to clone them again. Also, I believe they would quickly die to illness due to the existence of pathogens they did not have the opportunity to evolve any resistance to.

By all rights we shouldn't clone any extinct animals unless humanity is directly responsible for its extinction.

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As awesome it would be to see a live mammoth, I believe they shouldn't do this. There wouldn't be a population big enough to provide genetic diversity, so the only way to reproduce the individuals would be to clone them again. Also, I believe they would quickly die to illness due to the existence of pathogens they did not have the opportunity to evolve any resistance to.

By all rights we shouldn't clone any extinct animals unless humanity is directly responsible for its extinction.

Some people claim that humans did contribute to the extinction of mammoths.

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Awesome. I can't wait for the day they figure out a way to clone dinosaurs. Now that would be incredible.

You need to watch Jurassic Park.

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Why?

What is the point of resurrecting a creature that basically has no place in the natural world? Even if it has the genes of both a mammoth and modern elephant, what essentially is the goal other than to satisfy curiosity?

What then?

reaserch to find why mammoths and fauna why died out

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I'm firmly in the "Why Not" crowd on this one. It's not like any mammoths would ever be released into the wild. At best they'd make for expensive vanity pets and zoo attractions.

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You need to watch Jurassic Park.

Yeah...like the man said in the first sequence..."Don't worry they won't hurt you...they're vegetarian!" I wonder when was the last the scriptwriter walked up to and patted a rhino! :rolleyes:

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You need to watch Jurassic Park.

I've seen Jurassic Park. I realize the dangers that cloning a killing machine would do if somehow released into the public. But it would still be awesome.

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if there are dinosaurs everywhere it would be a new world hehehehe and it would be fun.

Edited by nohands
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  • 11 months later...

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