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Scientists trying to clone, resurrect extinct mammoth
Instead of Jurassic Park, try Pleistocene Park.
A team of scientists from Japan, Russia and the United States hopes to clone a mammoth, a symbol of Earth’s ice age that ended 12,000 years ago, according to a report in Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun. The researchers say they hope to produce a baby mammoth within six years.
The scientists say they will extract DNA from a mammoth carcass that has been preserved in a Russian laboratory and insert it into the egg cells of an African elephant in hopes of producing a mammoth embryo.
The team is being led by Akira Iritani, a professor emeritus at Kyoto University in Japan. He has built upon research from Teruhiko Wakayama of Kobe's Riken Center for Developmental Biology, who successfully cloned a mouse from cells that had been frozen for 16 years, to devise a technique to extract egg nuclei without damaging them, according to the Yomiuri report.
The U.S. researchers are in vitro fertilization experts. They, along with Kinki University professor Minoru Miyashita, will be responsible for implanting the mammoth embryo into an African elephant, the report said.
"If a cloned embryo can be created, we need to discuss, before transplanting it into the womb, how to breed [the mammoth] and whether to display it to the public," Iritani told Yomiuri. "After the mammoth is born, we'll examine its ecology and genes to study why the species became extinct and other factors."
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I wonder if this creature will speak as well as snuffalupagus.
Has no one learned from the Jurassic Park franchise?!
On that note, I don't even know why these people are even trying; every place on Earth that can possibly house this thing are melting, except perhaps Siberia (but I don't think the Siberians would very much appreciate them unleashing a giant genetic experiment on their land).
they can clone a friggin mammoth but they haven't cured male pattern baldness. priorities, people,..priorities.
do fiber bars give everyone gas or is it just me?
Stop eating those Mammoth droppings!
There is a REASON the mammoth along with a lot of other animals (outside of human intervention) became extinct...because of natural selection. I don't think we need to revisit the ice age with this one.
No, they just wouldn't let him on the Ark.
Paleoindians overhunted the Mammoth plus climate change may have contributed.
It will make the perfect new mascot for the Republican party. It's kind of like an elephant and everybody thought it was extinct when it suddenly made a comeback. That and it's hairy and smells bad.
Too funny. But it would be a sad day for the mammoth.
speaking of politics, what if the parents decide to abort the clone? Is that wrong? A chicken makes a lousy house pet.
Smelly and hairy are traits much more commonly found in Democrats. And to those suggesting the Mammoth became extinct due to climate change... I don't think there was much man-made pollution going on back then. Are you saying that Earth might actually go through cycles of climate change on its OWN?!? Amazing theory!
I have heard that they brought back to life an extinct species of Lion some time ago? Has anyone heard about this.
i would like to clone me and send my clone to work. I just hope he doesn't say or do anything stupid.
My guess (from reading your post) is ... it would.
Perhaps before we go to the trouble of bringing back an extinct animal, we should figure out how to keep so many of earth's current species from going extinct right now. We barely have habitat for modern day elephants – let's save them and their brethern instead.
I wonder why they're starting with a mammoth? Aren't there more recently extinct animals with fresher carcasses, DNA remnants, closer living relatives etc.? I think finding a way to clone and reintroduce extinct animals is a noble research goals ... I just wonder why they're jumping directly to the mammoth.
They wanted the news of their success to be big 😉
The Mamouth DNA that they have will continue to degrade. If they have a shot at it, sooner would be better than later.
Hmmm. What's the sound of someone completely missing the point? Whooosh? Ziiiing?
The point of the article is to clone the mammoth for study and other research purposes. It is not to study cloning as a process. Therefore, it does not make a whole lot of sense to study a real mammoth by cloning the saber-toothed tiger (or some other extinct species).
This from a science forum in respect to the Jurassic Park fears. It's quite funny.:
With regard to the Jurassic park scenario, we may just get away with it using mammoth.
There have been a relatively large number of mammoth remains discovered, and scientists have managed to glean a lot of interesting information from them. For example, working from a number of anatomical clues, the prevailing theory is that mammoth were vegetarian. Based upon this evidence, most experts agree that mammoth were less prone to eating people than certain other animals existing at that time, such as the cave lion for instance. Similar anatomical clues suggest that mammoth were also quite large, which, it is supposed, would make it difficult for them to hide behind trees or small bushes, and would also present certain problems when attempting to stalk things through long grass.
Moreover, investigations which reveal that mammoth had legs and knees in a similar conformation to the modern elephant suggest that they were a lot slower than say, velociraptors, or even a cave lion with a badly twisted ankle. Elephant are not famed for their ability to jump, and given the similarity between modern elephant and mammoth in leg and knee conformation, it is widely held that there are no real grounds to suppose that mammoth would be particularly good at it either. Thus (it is reasoned), even if they were found to be particularly 'stalky' in nature, they are unlikely to be much good at pouncing.
The upshot of this is that most experts believe that should we manage to successfully clone mammoth, people going for a walk through the bush or long grass are unlikely to be at significant risk of being stalked and pounced on by them. However, it has been suggested in certain, more cynical quarters that a significant risk to the public would be posed by the aggressive marketing of novelty t-shirts and small plastic mammoth in amusing poses.
"Similar anatomical clues suggest that mammoth were also quite large". thank you for this nugget of wisdom. This is the first we have heard this amazing news. The earth is also round.
Perhaps before we go to the trouble of bringing back an extinct animal, we should figure out how to keep so many of earth's current species from going extinct right now. We barely have habitat for modern day elephants – let's save them and the rest of our modern day critters instead.
That's a good point; however, one could keep a controlled population of mammoths somewhere near the Arctic Circle. There is plenty of space there, and they would not interfere with other species.
Great point! I'm pretty sure we are only able to do one thing at a time, anyway ...
I'm all for it. bring on the clones!
wouldn't it be ironic if the clone(s) get killed-off by global warming instead of the ice age. poor things.
Has anyone thought about the danger to the African elephant mom giving birth to a baby mammoth? Mammoths were larger than elephants, so how could she give birth without a C-section? That would be blatant animal cruelty!
Oh, it probably won't be born full size. I think that, despite the name, "mammoths" were born small. No tusks either.
While large, woolly mammoths were impressive animals, they were, in fact, not noticeably taller than present-day African elephants
Yes, you are right. She will be giving birth to a fully grown mammoth. Makes sense ...
i'd like to check out the junk in your tunk.