We have all seen the Jurassic Park/World movies right? Well, what if I told you that the dream of a dinosaur-inhabited national park is closer to being a reality? With the recent advances in technology, scientists have been exploring the possibility of cloning the DNA of fossils in order to rebirth an extinct species.
With a 15 million dollar grant, the geneticist and Harvard graduate, George Church and his team at Colossal Biosciences have been hard at work for many years, looking into the genetics of the great woolly mammoth. Church figured out that by taking the DNA from an Indian elephant and filling in the missing parts of the Woolley Mammoth fossil DNA, there is a high chance of a woolly mammoth offspring. This offspring will later be placed in a habitat park in Siberia in late 2027.
This great discovery would not only serve as a public spectacle but as a means to restore the ecosystem to its natural state. When Mammuthus primigenius (Scientific term for woolly mammoth) walked the earth, they, like all living things needed to sleep. When doing this, the mammoths packed the snow/ice making it harder for carbon to escape the polar ice caps. In today's world many people are concerned about how fast the polar ice caps are melting, and the rebirth of the woolly mammoth would be the perfect solution. These fantastic animals also knocked over many trees creating more grassland (Grasslands are great for storing carbon) proving another benefit.
Scientists are not just planning to stop with the woolly mammoth, engineers at Colossal are planning on rebirthing other species such as the thylacine (Tasmanian tiger), and the dodo bird. Though it would take time, there are proven benefits outside of tourism that these animals could bring to our world. Personally, I love the idea of bringing back some species that we humans caused to go into extinction, however, I do understand that there are potential risks.
On the contrary, others may argue that the advances in genetic cloning should be limited or even outlawed because some extinct species are too risky to develop, such as the saber-tooth tiger. However, after much research on each species, the proper animals are selected, in order to rule out potential danger.
In conclusion, through advancements in technology, scientists are able to clone extinct animals by using fossil DNA, and the DNA from their closest relatives. Prehistoric cloning has positive social and eco-friendly effects when used the right way, and how these historic animals act that makes the beneficial to the economy.
Would you visit the woolly mammoth in Siberia? If not why?
Do you think that cloning ancient animal DNA is a good/safe investment of time and money? Why?
If you could choose any extinct animal to be cloned back to life, what would it be? Why?
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/14/1036884561/dna-resurrection-jurassic-park-woolly-mammoth
Replies
I agree. Visiting this historic animal would be very cool. I do understand how you say that bringing back this animal could wreck ecosystems however I think that in the long run bringing back this animal could help both environmentally and in the food chain. These big animals may help to get rid of some of the invasive animals troubling this food web.
I would totally visit a wooly mammoth, because it would be awesome. It would be so big and have massive tusks. I think that bringing back ancient DNA may be harmful to ecosystems if they release the animals into the wild. I think that if they keep them in captive it would be a good investment.
I agree to a point. Though bringing back the Woolly Mammoth would be a great spectacle, I do not think that we should keep it in captivity for its whole life. Though things are different now than when they roamed the earth, I think we should experiment with how this great animal will interact with the modern world. Plus, if it does not go as planned, we have the propper tools to take care of the animal.
I think that the fact that we even have the ability and the technology to do this is just incredible. I would love to see a woolly mammoth as well as more extinct species. While some of these animals may prove as a danger to humans, bringing them back would be great for the environment.
I would like to visit the woolly momoth in siberia and the way they made it was really intresting. I believe that cloning is a good spend of money even though it isn't technically a woolly momoth it is the closest we will get. If I were to choose one animal to come back to like I would like to see the saber tooth tiger because it was a unique animal and was bigger then a normal tiger.
Instead of cloning exticint animals, I think that we should clone endangered animals. I don't understand why people havn't thought of this already. We want ot bring back a species that hasn't been hear for hundreds of years, but we don't want to save a species that is living now? Siberian tiger going extict? Clone it. Pandas becomeing endangered? I don't think so, clone it. Elephants dying rapidly? Not on my watch, clone it. I would be cool to see a wool mamoth, but I think for right now, we should clone what we already have.
I agree to a point. I think that cloning animals that are beginning to go extinct would be a great idea, I think that this will be something that happens more in the future. But I think that bringing back some animals that have been extinct in the past could bring more benefits. For example, the Woolly Mammoth will be able to help with climate change, this is a large problem currently and one that science could help with.
I would visit the mammoth in Siberia. I believe that it's not a good idea to clone and bring back an extinct animal because it would take away the resources for saving endangered animals. I wouldn't bring back any animal if I had the choice because it would harm the ecosystem from overpopulation and would destroy other animal's habitats.
I agree. Cloning extinct animals is 100% possible. The science is being done currently, and the Woolly Mammoth will be the first animal to come back from extinction unless Colossal is shut down. This will be a huge breakthrough in science and will definitely lead to further explorations of this topic. Whether citizens feel this is ethical will play a role in determining if this practice should continue.
I do think its a bad idea, I think mammoths died and their is no reason to bring them back. If you watched jarrasic park you will see why bring back extict animals is a bad idea, I would not bring any animal back.
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