A mammoth mistake?

[|iR|Focalor]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110117/wl_asia_afp/japansciencemammoth_20110117104445

HELLO! JAPAN! Don't you fuckers remember what happened when Godzilla got loose? This is nothing BUT a bad idea. How ironic that these two headlines are together.

[yahoo]

dont forget Jurrasic Park.

PS. I still believe mammoths are elephants with too much hairs for which jiau can look into. 

[|iR|Focalor]

I personally think it's an obvious mistake to do this. For one, it's probably extinct for a good reason. Mixing mammoth and modern elephant baby batter will probably produce a somehow deficient species. Either it'll be physically disabled to some degree, or somehow biologically disabled (possibly sterile or with a weak immune system). What if the result is an animal with extremely aggressive tendencies? I don't see what great beneficial scientific discovery could come from it. Just seems like a HUGE waste of money to me. Should we start cloning other prehistoric creatures too? Sure, it's an interesting concept, but I don't think it's beneficial to mankind in any way.

[quadz]

it's probably extinct for a good reason.

Given the estimation that 99.9% of all species that ever lived are now extinct, I think the reasons for extinction must usually be rather mundane.

Mixing mammoth and modern elephant baby batter will probably produce a somehow deficient species.

If the cloning is successful, it won't be a mix in the standard reproductive sense.  The modern elephant would be used for gestation, but the cloned DNA would be a direct copy of that of the original mammoth.   (Again, assuming they're able to obtain an undamaged copy in the first place.)

Should we start cloning other prehistoric creatures too?

OK i might skip the velociraptors, but...

[fdrjk]

OK i might skip the velociraptors, but...

Velociraptor rides at the zoo? 

[haunted]

Crazy.. but it probably isn't so wasteful, for Japan anyway.

[|iR|Focalor]

it's probably extinct for a good reason.

Given the estimation that 99.9% of all species that ever lived are now extinct, I think the reasons for extinction must usually be rather mundane.

Depending on what you mean precisely by "mundane", I have to disagree. A "mundane" reason for extinction would be man hunting down ALL of the buffalo in North America in less than 25 years, which damn near happened. Then again, maybe mankind hunted the wooly mammoth into extinction, who knows.

Maybe this is flawed logic, but I tend think of extinction being caused by environmental factors, either internal or external. Either the species can't sustain itself on the resources provided by it's current habitat, or there are other environmental factors which precipitate it's demise. I think the two main theories as to why as dinosaurs became extinct are the ice age and a meteor crashing into the earth's surface causing the earth to spew out lava which either consumed them all or gave off toxic gases which were unbreathable.

Mixing mammoth and modern elephant baby batter will probably produce a somehow deficient species.

If the cloning is successful, it won't be a mix in the standard reproductive sense.  The modern elephant would be used for gestation, but the cloned DNA would be a direct copy of that of the original mammoth.   (Again, assuming they're able to obtain an undamaged copy in the first place.)

Well obviously the egg would not be from a wooly mammoth. So, yes, I think it would retain at least 40% biological commonality with a modern elephant.

[Whirlingdervish]

I'm pretty sure they can effectively remove any scraps of the host dna from an egg cell these days.

[|iR|Focalor]

it's probably extinct for a good reason.

Given the estimation that 99.9% of all species that ever lived are now extinct, I think the reasons for extinction must usually be rather mundane.

Depending on what you mean precisely by "mundane", I have to disagree. A "mundane" reason for extinction would be man hunting down ALL of the buffalo in North America in less than 25 years, which damn near happened. Then again, maybe mankind hunted the wooly mammoth into extinction, who knows.

Maybe this is flawed logic, but I tend think of extinction being caused by environmental factors, either internal or external. Either the species can't sustain itself on the resources provided by it's current habitat, or there are other environmental factors which precipitate it's demise. I think the two main theories as to why as dinosaurs became extinct are the ice age and a meteor crashing into the earth's surface causing the earth to spew out lava which either consumed them all or gave off toxic gases which were unbreathable.

After reading what I said, I guess it would be a lot simpler to explain why it's state of being extinct is more immediately a "good reason" in my own opinion. Remember the little link I circled in red which was about the zoo keeper in Tennessee who was killed by an elephant? Yeah, the damn things can step on me. I don't like being stepped on. Being stepped on is very bad.

[[BTF] Reflex]

You know what the gunk is between an elephant's toes?

Slow running natives.   

[[BTF]Sigma]

[Zeppelin]

I personally think it's an obvious mistake to do this. For one, it's probably extinct for a good reason. Mixing mammoth and modern elephant baby batter will probably produce a somehow deficient species. Either it'll be physically disabled to some degree, or somehow biologically disabled (possibly sterile or with a weak immune system). What if the result is an animal with extremely aggressive tendencies? I don't see what great beneficial scientific discovery could come from it. Just seems like a HUGE waste of money to me. Should we start cloning other prehistoric creatures too? Sure, it's an interesting concept, but I don't think it's beneficial to mankind in any way.

Have you heard about Ligers? An hybrid cross between a Lion and a Tiger.  They only exist in captivity, since the tiger and lion habitats do not overlap in the world.

Imprinted genes may be a factor contributing to huge liger size. -- it is the biggest cat in the world.
A 400 kg beats 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD6vpheUoPE