So scientists are going to bring back the wooly mammoth
So when does Jurassic park open up?
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ArishMell · 70-79, M
I doubt it. I'm sure people have talked about the possibility but that is not the same as deciding to do so; it but the chance of success is remote to say the least.
It also raises serious animal-welfare and morality questions.
This was examined on BBC Radio Four's science programme not long ago.
The guest pointed out it could be very cruel, if they were able to make a cow elephant give birth to a mammoth calf, or a hybrid elephant / mammoth. The mother and other members of her group are likely to not understand it and may well reject it, leaving it to starve to death unless hand-reared by vets.
I think that could make it even less likely to form bonds with the elephants; but anyway such offspring may well be sterile, like mules. This to prevent hybrids between species too different for that to be viable.
This all even assumes the scrap of DNA used, from an animal that has been dead but in "deep freeze" for thousands of years, is intact enough to produce a viable hybrid, or is damaged and would create something deformed or disabled. Such a creature might die in the womb, possibly killing the mother, or be miscarried to protect her, or not last long if born.
This is not artificial evolution. It is species-jumping in a major way.
It also raises serious animal-welfare and morality questions.
This was examined on BBC Radio Four's science programme not long ago.
The guest pointed out it could be very cruel, if they were able to make a cow elephant give birth to a mammoth calf, or a hybrid elephant / mammoth. The mother and other members of her group are likely to not understand it and may well reject it, leaving it to starve to death unless hand-reared by vets.
I think that could make it even less likely to form bonds with the elephants; but anyway such offspring may well be sterile, like mules. This to prevent hybrids between species too different for that to be viable.
This all even assumes the scrap of DNA used, from an animal that has been dead but in "deep freeze" for thousands of years, is intact enough to produce a viable hybrid, or is damaged and would create something deformed or disabled. Such a creature might die in the womb, possibly killing the mother, or be miscarried to protect her, or not last long if born.
This is not artificial evolution. It is species-jumping in a major way.