The Resurrection of the Woolly Mammoth - 580 Words

The resurrection of the woolly mammoth In the beginning of the year 2011, Japanese scientists, led by Akira Iritani announced, that they plan to resurrect the woolly mammoth within five years. With a little luck these ice age giants who lived until 10’000 years ago may soon become the very first inhabitants of the worlds first zoo for extinct animals. Mammoths are particularly good for resurrection, because of the relatively recent extinction (compared to dinosaurs†¦). Due to the climatic developments since then, many still intact specimens were found frozen in the arctic tundra. Another reason why cloning mammoths is so promising, is the fact that mammoths are so closely related to a living species -the elephants. So scientists may be able to simplify the process by having a living female elephant give birth to a mammoth. A main stumbling block for the project of mammoth resurrection has been that the freezing temperatures unfortunately have left much of the animals DNA too damaged to clone properly.1, 2 How to clone In order to clone an animal, you have to take a cell of it, for example a skin cell. In each single cell one can find the complete genetic information of the whole creature in the DNA, which is in the nucleus. You then take an unfertilised egg cell of a female animal of a related species. You will have to remove it’s cell nucleus and replace it with the nucleus of the animal you want to clone. The whole progress happens in a lab under a microscope.Show MoreRelatedCloning as Solution to Food Shortages and Needs for New Medicine1436 Words   |  6 Pagesmedication in their milk. (Weiss) More recently, Woolly Mammoth bones have been discovered in Siberia. The discovery of these bones may allow scientists to create a new revival of Woolly Mammoths. Scientists are still trying to decide what species should be a surrogate mother for the DNA, and the choice is between complete elephant eggs or the ovarian tissues of an elephant being placed into a mouse. The scientists are also concerned if the mammoth cells’ DNA will deteriorate as the bones thaw, soRead MoreAnimal Cloning Should Be Banned1977 Words   |  8 Pagesresearch, someone asked the question, â€Å"Occasionally one hears claims that extinct animals (e.g. woolly mammoths, Tasmanian tigers or dinosaurs) are going to be brought back to life using somatic cell nuclear transfer using frozen or otherwise preserved tissue and surrogate pregnancy in related animals. How plausible are such claims?’’ And, the panel answered with this, â€Å"Although in theory such resurrections might be possible, in reality they are extremely unlikely; there are two BIG issues. â€Å"(wwwRead MoreHumans Causing Decline in Biodiversity Essays2274 Words   |  10 Pages There is evidence to suggest that many frog species are recovering from the Chytrid fungus, some even reaching pre-infection numbers. It is possible that some communities have adapted resistibility to the disease (Zukerman, 2010). Moreover, a resurrection of sorts (albeit human assisted) has been possible with some extinct species such as the much publicised Quagga. The equus quagga quagga is now known to be a subspecies of Burchells Zebra, and a selective breeding program has meant that creatures