Author Topic: Mammoth fragments may be clonable. Should they?? (Read 568 times)

powderman · « **on:** September 12, 2012, 04:36:18 AM »

Jurassic Park? Mammoth fragments from Siberia may be clonable Published September 12, 2012
FoxNews.com

June 28, 2008: A sculpture of mammoths is seen in the Siberian town of Khanty-Mansiisk, 1,250 miles east of Moscow. A Russian university said Tuesday that an international team of scientists have discovered well-preserved frozen woolly mammoth fragments deep in Siberia that may contain living cells. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

Scientists have discovered well-preserved frozen woolly mammoth fragments deep in Siberia that may contain living cells, edging a tad closer to the "Jurassic Park" possibility of cloning a prehistoric animal, the mission's organizer said Tuesday.

Russia's North-Eastern Federal University said an international team of researchers had discovered mammoth hair, soft tissues and bone marrow some 328 feet (100 meters) underground during a summer expedition in the northeastern province of Yakutia.
Expedition chief Semyon Grigoryev said Korean scientists with the team had set a goal of finding living cells in the hope of cloning a mammoth. Scientists have previously found bones and fragments but not living cells.

Grigoryev told the online newspaper Vzglyad it would take months of research to determine whether they have indeed found the cells.
"Only after thorough laboratory research will it be known whether these are living cells or not," he said, adding that would take until the end of the year at the earliest.
Wooly mammoths are thought to have died out around 10,000 years ago, although scientists think small groups of them lived longer in Alaska and on Russia's Wrangel Island off the Siberian coast.

Scientists already have deciphered much of the genetic code of the woolly mammoth from balls of mammoth hair found frozen in the Siberian permafrost. Some believe it's possible to recreate the prehistoric animal if they find living cells in the permafrost.

Those who succeed in recreating an extinct animal could claim a "Jurassic Park prize," the concept of which is being developed by the X Prize Foundation that awarded a 2004 prize for the first private spacecraft.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/09/12/jurassic-park-mammoth-fragments-from-siberia-may-be-clonable/?intcmp=features#ixzz26GZ2xS32

blind ear · « **Reply #1 on:** September 12, 2012, 06:12:07 AM »

I absolutely hope so. The only thing I would hope for more would be the cloaning of earlier species of man to examine their intelligence levels and other mental and physical parameters. ear

Empty Quiver · « **Reply #2 on:** September 12, 2012, 10:18:19 AM »

Absolutely they should clone one if possible.

There are always downsides to technological advancements. Look at the destruction the wheel is responsable for, or dynamite, or silicon chips for that matter. Without high quality steel would routine surgery be what it is today? Would we be able to build navy subs?

The science that would enable cloning a mammoth, would likely allow my wife to see again. As it would probably lead to nerve regeneration allowing those with spinal injuries to heal.

powderman · « **Reply #3 on:** September 12, 2012, 05:38:19 PM »

I have mixed feelings about cloning. I can see good uses like EQ mentioned but it also seems like playing God and could be misused. POWDERMAN.

Sourdough · « **Reply #4 on:** September 12, 2012, 06:02:13 PM »

Like gunpowder, it can be used for peaceful constructive purposes. Or it can be used for war. I say go for it. Someday this technology may be able to grow a person a new heart, a new spine, new eyes, or even new limbs. Who knows where it may lead. And yes it could possibly lead to man's distruction, Who knows. Rog

Buckskin · « **Reply #5 on:** September 13, 2012, 04:54:57 AM »

Heck yeah they should. I would love to get a whack at a Mammoth... Jurassic Park here we come!

52bagman · « **Reply #6 on:** September 13, 2012, 06:54:47 AM »

It would make for a cool archery hunt.

briarpatch · « **Reply #7 on:** September 13, 2012, 07:12:39 AM »

God only knows what goes on in the dark recesses of governments around the world on stuff like this. For all we know it has been done.

yellowtail3 · « **Reply #8 on:** September 13, 2012, 02:23:34 PM »

I'd like to go mammoth hunting... give me a reason to take the Mosin into the woods, instead of the Marlin.

Gun Runner · « **Reply #9 on:** September 13, 2012, 10:43:38 PM »

How much are TAGS gonna be for them?

Gun Runner

jlwilliams · « **Reply #10 on:** September 14, 2012, 01:12:09 AM »

Go for it.

guzzijohn · « **Reply #11 on:** September 14, 2012, 03:04:05 AM »

Dragging it out of the woods could be a real challenge. Better get one hell of an ATV.

GuzziJohn

BBF · « **Reply #12 on:** September 14, 2012, 09:07:30 AM »

Keep them on your side of the Border. I don't want one crashing around my backyard.

buck460XVR · « **Reply #13 on:** September 14, 2012, 10:37:55 AM »

Quote from: powderman on September 12, 2012, 05:38:19 PM

I have mixed feelings about cloning. I can see good uses like EQ mentioned but it also seems like playing God and could be misused. POWDERMAN.

It would seem to be like playing God only if you believed in God. Many out there do not and believe man's destiny is only controlled by man. Many out there are only concerned about money and what they can spend it on during the short time they are on this Earth. Some would say the technology needed to clone is a gift to man from God, while others claim man should not open the can of worms that comes with this gift. I too would love to see a living Mammoth. I too would love to see medical miracles that would end much pain and suffering. But I fear what greed and hatred combined with the same technology can do.

Conan The Librarian · « **Reply #14 on:** September 14, 2012, 11:08:02 AM »

Bringing back a specie that was made extinct by human encroachment and climate warming during a time of human encroachment on wild habitat and climate warming sounds like a government project to me.

jlwilliams · « **Reply #15 on:** September 14, 2012, 04:23:48 PM »

And in comes....

Quote from: Conan The Librarian on September 14, 2012, 11:08:02 AM

Bringing back a specie that was made extinct by human encroachment and climate warming during a time of human encroachment on wild habitat and climate warming sounds like a government project to me.

.......with the win.

greenrivers · « **Reply #16 on:** September 14, 2012, 04:49:10 PM »

This is gonna be one heck of a freezer! Will Sears produce one big enough?

BBF · « **Reply #17 on:** September 15, 2012, 07:06:39 AM »

You can get a walk in freezer any size you want.

Brett · « **Reply #18 on:** September 15, 2012, 09:47:34 AM »

I wonder if the meat would taste like chicken? $:-\$

mannyrock · « **Reply #19 on:** September 15, 2012, 10:40:25 AM »

Sourdough,

Ole buddy, you are a little behind the times. Scientists have already succeeded in growing entire new organs for people. They don't use cloning. They extract stem cells from the patient's own bone marrow, cultivate it, mix it with healthy cells of his damaged organ, and like magic a totally new organ is grown. This has already been done with a pancreas, and I believe a kidney as well. The organ is not rejected, because it is the patient's own tissue.

Problem is, this procedure costs about $250,000! Too expensive for it to be practical.

As for the Mammoth, they are about 99.9% identical genetically to African elephants. We humans killed them off. So, cloning and releasing would be a wonderful way to right this wrong. And in all seriousness, think of the economic boom to places like Siberia and the Alaskan tundra country, if there were herds of wild mammoth roaming there, to be hunted for license fees.

Best, Mannyrock