Return of the Woolly Mammoth due 'within five years'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...row-years.html
Woolly mammoth to be brought back to life from cloned bone marrow 'within five years'
- Thigh bone discovered in permafrost soil of Siberia
- Contains elusive undamaged genes essential for nucleus transplantation
- Nuclei of elephant's egg cells will be replaced with mammoth's marrow DNA
- Embryo will then be planted into elephant womb for gestation
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mail
Scientists believe it may be possible to clone a woolly mammoth within five years after finding well-preserved bone marrow in a thigh bone recovered from permafrost soil in Siberia. Teams from Russia's Sakha Republic's mammoth museum and Japan's Kinki University will launch fully-fledged joint research next year aiming to recreate the giant mammal, Japan's Kyodo News reported from Yakutsk, Russia. By replacing the nuclei of egg cells from an elephant with those taken from the mammoth's marrow cells, embryos with mammoth DNA can be produced, Kyodo said, citing the researchers.
The scientists will then plant the embryos into elephant wombs for delivery as the two species are close relatives, the report said. Securing nuclei with an undamaged gene is essential for the nucleus transplantation technique, it said. For scientists involved in the research since the late 1990s, finding nuclei with undamaged mammoth genes has been a challenge. Mammoths became extinct about 10,000 years ago. But the discovery in August in Siberia has increased the chances of a successful cloning.
Not quite sure what to make of it really, most of the 'corrections' we humans do to nature usually make the problem we created even worse (for example when we decide to return woodland to its 'original habitat' and end up destroying one habitat for another which takes decades to correct itself, if it ever does). Interesting though, I wonder if re-introduction of the Mammoth into Siberia would pose any threats to wildlife already there? if not, then perhaps its an idea. But then again, nature always always suprises us.
Thoughts? bring back the Mammoth or not?
