Cloning a Woolly Mammoth - Next up.. Jurassic Park?

[Sledgstone 8,672]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8257223/Mammoth-could-be-reborn-in-four-years.html

Previous efforts in the 1990s to recover nuclei in cells from the skin and muscle tissue from mammoths found in the Siberian permafrost failed because they had been too badly damaged by the extreme cold.

But a technique pioneered in 2008 by Dr. Teruhiko Wakayama, of the Riken Centre for Developmental Biology, was successful in cloning a mouse from the cells of another mouse that had been frozen for 16 years.

Now that hurdle has been overcome, Akira Iritani, a professor at Kyoto University, is reactivating his campaign to resurrect the species that died out 5,000 years ago.

"Now the technical problems have been overcome, all we need is a good sample of soft tissue from a frozen mammoth," he told The Daily Telegraph.

He intends to use Dr Wakayama's technique to identify the nuclei of viable mammoth cells before extracting the healthy ones.

The nuclei will then be inserted into the egg cells of an African elephant, which will act as the surrogate mother for the mammoth.

Professor Iritani said he estimates that another two years will be needed before the elephant can be impregnated, followed by the approximately 600-day gestation period.

He has announced plans to travel to Siberia in the summer to search for mammoths in the permafrost and to recover a sample of skin or tissue that can be as small as 3cm square. If he is unsuccessful, the professor said, he will ask Russian scientists to provide a sample from one of their finds.

"The success rate in the cloning of cattle was poor until recently but now stands at about 30 per cent," he said. "I think we have a reasonable chance of success and a healthy mammoth could be born in four or five years."

Imagine going to a zoo to check out a woolly mammoth.. that would be pretty cool.. but not as cool as raptors.

[Myk JL 1,731]

I wanna see a raptor too, but only if it makes a creationists shit it's pants.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

Raptors are lame in actuality. Their only the size of chickens. Not like in Jurassic Park.

[CabbitGirl 4,018]

that's so amazing cant wait to see more stories on this if he finds some healthy tissue

[Sledgstone 8,672]

Raptors are lame in actuality. Their only the size of chickens. Not like in Jurassic Park.

But what if someone had a pet raptor or two to act as guard dogs. Imagine them perched at the sides of a door entrance on pedestals looking like a couple of gargoyles.. they could be trained to slash someone's throat when they entered. they wouldn't seem so lame then.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

bwlDW8qFGFA

Overkill

[Myk JL 1,731]

But what if someone had a pet raptor or two to act as guard dogs. Imagine them perched at the sides of a door entrance on pedestals looking like a couple of gargoyles.. they could be trained to slash someone's throat when they entered. they wouldn't seem so lame then.

A flock of raptors attacking a group of "Fox & Friends" creationists!

[Ladywriter 7,783]

dinos running loose at a tea party rally .... hmmmmmm

here we go with a case of just because we can do something it doesn't mean we should.

What scientific value is there in creating a mammoth, what about the animal's quality of life? Are we re introducing the animal as a food source, where do we keep them in a warming world as releasing them into the wild will fuck failing fragile ecosystems even harder...

The mammoth wasn't killed off by human activity, yes paleoindians hunted them, but the species also dealt with climate and thus habitat change and the disease that came with it.

[Guest sharondavis]

Just a while ago, I also read an article connected with this sensational issue. Please allow me to share the link here. Check this out: http://www.newsytype.com/13798-clone-wooly-mammoth/.

For many years, researchers have talked about the potential for cloning historic species. A wooly mammoth was always considered to be among the best prospects. Now, experts in Japan and Russia have agreed to interact in an effort to clone a mammoth by 2017.

Moreover, albeit researchers intend to create a cloned wooly mammoth in 5 to 6 years, there are still queries about the ethics of this plan. There are strong polemics on both sides, and as researchers continue their work, the final deadline for decision and intervention will soon come.

Now, what is your stand regarding this scientific issue?