Mammoth cloning

[tyrantqueen]

Did anyone else catch the documentary on bringing back the woolly mammoth? I'm not a prehistoric mammal fan usually, but this topic was so interesting that I couldn't help but be interested. In the UK, it was known as Woolly Mammoth: The Autopsy.

Here is the link for UK viewers: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/woolly-mammoth-the-autopsy

Any thoughts? I thought it was really interesting learning of the mammoth's final moments of its life, and how it met its end. Also, learning that cloning the species could help alleviate climate change was really intriguing.

I think the documentary was broadcast in the States as "How to clone a Woolly Mammoth" but I can't find a link for it. Sorry

[laticauda]

There has been alot of talk about bringing the mammoth back, and even its links to health of a ecosystem.  As exciting of a prospect, I must say there are species on the brink right now, that need to be saved and helped.  The current species are the ones that are most likely able to live, work, and shape new ecosystems. Just a thought!

[CityRaptor]

The have been on about that since the 90s.

I also suggest cloning Elasmotherium. But instead of full size, they would be the size of dogs...and sold as "Pet Unicorns".

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

I would personally like to see mammpths back, even if they're only confined to zoos at first, however I also agree that many modern animals need helping as well.

[CityRaptor]

How about cloning something that is
1. more unique than a hairy elephant
2. more recently extinct
3. a dinosaur

Thinking about a Dodo. It also should be way easier to keep one.

[tyrantqueen]

The have been on about that since the 90s.

I also suggest cloning Elasmotherium. But instead of full size, they would be the size of dogs...and sold as "Pet Unicorns".

I know. But the situation became a lot more real recently due to the fact that they were able to extract blood from the mammoth specimen, and with the recent advances in cloning, it has become more of a possibility than ever.

Thinking about a Dodo. It also should be way easier to keep one

With the current technology, it is not possible. The specimens we have of the dodo are few in number, and would be too badly degraded to extract useable DNA from. The situation is the same with the Thylacine. Even DNA from the foetus in a jar was too far gone to be useable.

[DinoLord]

Another problem with dodo cloning is the complete lack of attempts at cloning of extant birds.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

I think an aspect of mammoth cloning that is overlooked is the implication for the ivory trade...think of the possibilities for a herd of animals with two tusks each sixteen feet long. If the market could somehow be sate, perhaps the slaughter of ivory bearing animals might slow down, although I am not sure that would work to deter poaching of these endangered species. I would like to see how it plays out though, and I think it suggests an interesting concept aside from just the mammoth itself.

[Gwangi]

I think an aspect of mammoth cloning that is overlooked is the implication for the ivory trade...think of the possibilities for a herd of animals with two tusks each sixteen feet long. If the market could somehow be sate, perhaps the slaughter of ivory bearing animals might slow down, although I am not sure that would work to deter poaching of these endangered species. I would like to see how it plays out though, and I think it suggests an interesting concept aside from just the mammoth itself.

That would basically require mass production of the animal, like at an agricultural level. If we haven't even attempted that with extant elephants I don't see such a prospect working too well for mammoths. Keep in mind that any cloned mammoth(s) would only contain the genetic material from a single individual or two or however many they have available. Not really enough to work with on a mass market scale. Given their other requirements like a cold environment and I just don't see it as a likely scenario. The first mammoths would also have to be hybrids if I'm not mistaken.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

I think an aspect of mammoth cloning that is overlooked is the implication for the ivory trade...think of the possibilities for a herd of animals with two tusks each sixteen feet long. If the market could somehow be sate, perhaps the slaughter of ivory bearing animals might slow down, although I am not sure that would work to deter poaching of these endangered species. I would like to see how it plays out though, and I think it suggests an interesting concept aside from just the mammoth itself.

That would basically require mass production of the animal, like at an agricultural level. If we haven't even attempted that with extant elephants I don't see such a prospect working too well for mammoths. Keep in mind that any cloned mammoth(s) would only contain the genetic material from a single individual or two or however many they have available. Not really enough to work with on a mass market scale. Given their other requirements like a cold environment and I just don't see it as a likely scenario. The first mammoths would also have to be hybrids if I'm not mistaken.

Yes, i can see the problems with it, but if they could be somehow minimized or bridged, the idea is then fascinating. Most of the issue with cloning extant elephants is expense based, hard to justify cloning an already extant species for the cost involved. However cloning mammoths , given the things you could recoup your losses with...ie, visitors , tourists, merchandise, and finally ivory might well be feasible at least costwise . I think it makes interesting mind fodder however.

[Gwangi]

I think an aspect of mammoth cloning that is overlooked is the implication for the ivory trade...think of the possibilities for a herd of animals with two tusks each sixteen feet long. If the market could somehow be sate, perhaps the slaughter of ivory bearing animals might slow down, although I am not sure that would work to deter poaching of these endangered species. I would like to see how it plays out though, and I think it suggests an interesting concept aside from just the mammoth itself.

That would basically require mass production of the animal, like at an agricultural level. If we haven't even attempted that with extant elephants I don't see such a prospect working too well for mammoths. Keep in mind that any cloned mammoth(s) would only contain the genetic material from a single individual or two or however many they have available. Not really enough to work with on a mass market scale. Given their other requirements like a cold environment and I just don't see it as a likely scenario. The first mammoths would also have to be hybrids if I'm not mistaken.

Yes, i can see the problems with it, but if they could be somehow minimized or bridged, the idea is then fascinating. Most of the issue with cloning extant elephants is expense based, hard to justify cloning an already extant species for the cost involved. However cloning mammoths , given the things you could recoup your losses with...ie, visitors , tourists, merchandise, and finally ivory might well be feasible at least costwise . I think it makes interesting mind fodder however.

Well I wasn't really considering cloning extant elephants, merely breeding and farming them in captivity like traditional livestock. I can understand why they don't do it. Elephants produce few offspring and take a long time to mature. Plus they are not really as easily cared for as cattle. But I imagine trying to do the same with mammoths would be similar, cloned or not. But yes, it is certainly interesting to think about.

What I REALLY want to see cloned, is a thylacine. But I'll take any animal made extinct by humans within recent years. Moa would be nice to have around again.

[DinoLord]

De-extinction seems to be in the news lately with the 100th anniversary of the passenger pigeon's extinction. I wrote a 4,000 word philosophy paper on the subject this past summer for school. At the moment the main issues holding it back are lack of advanced cloning technologies with high success rate. Perhaps if enough members were interested the concept of de-extinction itself could warrant its own topic.

[HD-man]

The following quote sums up my opinion on the matter.

Quoting Switek ( https://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/we-got-a-palaeontologist-to-call-bullshit-on-the-jurassic-world-trailer-283 ):



We're never going to be able to clone a mammoth. Aside from the technical issues involved in bringing a clone to term in an animal with a gestation period of two years, the fact is that the best we can do is piece together our best guess of what a mammoth would be like. DNA starts to degrade at death, so paleo-geneticists need to take all those tatters and reassemble them into a working genome with that of a living elephant as a kind of map. And an organism isn't just a box of genes.
From what we know of living elephants, we can expect that woolly mammoths were highly social animals that learned from each other. Who is going to teach the first woolly mammoth to be a mammoth? Even with a successful cloning attempt – or genetically modifying elephants according to woolly mammoth genes – the best we could get would be a shaggy elephant that is adapted to cold, dry grasslands in an increasingly warming world. I think we can learn much about mammoths and the Ice Age world from their DNA, but they're gone, and I think they're best left that way.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

The following quote sums up my opinion on the matter.

Quoting Switek ( https://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/we-got-a-palaeontologist-to-call-bullshit-on-the-jurassic-world-trailer-283 ):



We're never going to be able to clone a mammoth. Aside from the technical issues involved in bringing a clone to term in an animal with a gestation period of two years, the fact is that the best we can do is piece together our best guess of what a mammoth would be like. DNA starts to degrade at death, so paleo-geneticists need to take all those tatters and reassemble them into a working genome with that of a living elephant as a kind of map. And an organism isn't just a box of genes.
From what we know of living elephants, we can expect that woolly mammoths were highly social animals that learned from each other. Who is going to teach the first woolly mammoth to be a mammoth? Even with a successful cloning attempt – or genetically modifying elephants according to woolly mammoth genes – the best we could get would be a shaggy elephant that is adapted to cold, dry grasslands in an increasingly warming world. I think we can learn much about mammoths and the Ice Age world from their DNA, but they're gone, and I think they're best left that way.

I dunno, myself I always smile at the people who say..." we will never" because as soon as they do , someone figures out how to bridge the gaps, connect the pieces and do exactly that. Not sure it will be in my lifetime, but there will be a day such an idea will be child'splay. I also think there is alot to be said for genetic memories and instinct that is inherent with any animal, and can be called on. Time will tell, but I think the naysayers will someday get to feast on the negatives.

[SpittersForEver]

I would love to see a Thylacine, they are one of my favourite animals since they only became extinct very recently but bearing in mind what other members said I don't think it would be possible.

[goodlife18]

It would be really interesting to see how a Mammoth and Modern day Elephant would react if they saw each other? 

[Concavenator]

We have feather evidence for some dinosaurs,like Microraptor,etc.Could we resurrect a dromaeosaur or a tyrannosaur by injecting ADN to a modern day bird?I would love to see an alife Microraptor or Yutyrannus   

[Balaur]

We have feather evidence for some dinosaurs,like Microraptor,etc.Could we resurrect a dromaeosaur or a tyrannosaur by injecting ADN to a modern day bird?I would love to see an alife Microraptor or Yutyrannus   

That would not work. Fossil feathers aren't really feathers. The majority are imprints. Also there is both no DNA in the feathers and there is 125 million years seperating them from the present, and DNA lasts about 100,000 years at most? Right?

[SpittersForEver]

We have feather evidence for some dinosaurs,like Microraptor,etc.Could we resurrect a dromaeosaur or a tyrannosaur by injecting ADN to a modern day bird?I would love to see an alife Microraptor or Yutyrannus   

That would not work. Fossil feathers aren't really feathers. The majority are imprints. Also there is both no DNA in the feathers and there is 125 million years seperating them from the present, and DNA lasts about 100,000 years at most? Right?

I don't think so that number should be smaller, though I am probably wrong.

[tyrantqueen]

We have feather evidence for some dinosaurs,like Microraptor,etc.Could we resurrect a dromaeosaur or a tyrannosaur by injecting ADN to a modern day bird?I would love to see an alife Microraptor or Yutyrannus   

No. We would not be able to extract DNA from fossils. The mammoth was different because it was preserved almost as soon as it died and was extremely well preserved. It wasn't actually fossils, but an carcass of the animal itself. There have been lots of mammoth carcasses being unearthed in Siberia which helps as well.