Scientists trying to clone, resurrect extinct mammoth

[Nikos]

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/17...tinct-mammoth/

Instead of Jurassic Park, try Pleistocene Park.
A team of scientists from Japan, Russia and the United States hopes to clone a mammoth, a symbol of Earth’s ice age that ended 12,000 years ago, according to a report in Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun. The researchers say they hope to produce a baby mammoth within six years.
The scientists say they will extract DNA from a mammoth carcass that has been preserved in a Russian laboratory and insert it into the egg cells of an African elephant in hopes of producing a mammoth embryo.
The team is being led by Akira Iritani, a professor emeritus at Kyoto University in Japan. He has built upon research from Teruhiko Wakayama of Kobe's Riken Center for Developmental Biology, who successfully cloned a mouse from cells that had been frozen for 16 years, to devise a technique to extract egg nuclei without damaging them, according to the Yomiuri report.
The U.S. researchers are in vitro fertilization experts. They, along with Kinki University professor Minoru Miyashita, will be responsible for implanting the mammoth embryo into an African elephant, the report said.
"If a cloned embryo can be created, we need to discuss, before transplanting it into the womb, how to breed [the mammoth] and whether to display it to the public," Iritani told Yomiuri. "After the mammoth is born, we'll examine its ecology and genes to study why the species became extinct and other factors."

All I can say is "wow." I'm extremely excited by this and will watch it with great interest in the years to come. Do you think we will see a living woolly mammoth within the decade? Should we try to bring the extinct creature back to life?

[Trax]

Should we try to bring the extinct creature back to life?

Why not?
People are willing to pay the money to see it and probably even more money to eat it.

Sounds like a good business.

[Phier]

Excellent to see the Norther European diet returning to normal in the near future

Seriously though this has been the plan all along for years. I'd love to see how they correct for degraded DNA and the like. I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of miscarriages.

[Nikos]

Excellent to see the Norther European diet returning to normal in the near future

Seriously though this has been the plan all along for years. I'd love to see how they correct for degraded DNA and the like. I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of miscarriages.

Supposedly there is a "new technique"
http://www.digitaltrends.com/interna...oolly-mammoth/

I'm a bit perplexed that they're using an African Elephant though, Loxodonta isn't nearly as close to the Mammoth as Elephas

[cpdwane]

I'm a bit perplexed that they're using an African Elephant though, Loxodonta isn't nearly as close to the Mammoth as Elephas

It's bigger.

But yeah you've got a point.

The problem I've got with this idea is how they expect the cloned Mammoth to be able to cope with modern diseases. But if that isn't an issue, I think it's a great idea.
I know that in Russia there are (or were) plans to create a national park on the Steppe to hold herds all of the species of animals that lived in the area in the last Ice Age, like Saiga Deer and caribu, alongside modern day recreations of now extinct animals like Konick horses and Heck's cattle. Of course, Mammoths would be the ideal finishing touch.

[Nikos]

It's bigger.

But yeah you've got a point.

I don't think size is too much of a problem here. They could always give the Elephant mother a C-section, but I don't think baby Mammoth were much larger then baby elephants anyway.

The problem I've got with this idea is how they expect the cloned Mammoth to be able to cope with modern diseases. But if that isn't an issue, I think it's a great idea.
I know that in Russia there are (or were) plans to create a national park on the Steppe to hold herds all of the species of animals that lived in the area in the last Ice Age, like Saiga Deer and caribu, alongside modern day recreations of now extinct animals like Konick horses and Heck's cattle. Of course, Mammoths would be the ideal finishing touch.

Pleistocene park is already well underway.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleistocene_Park

MMm it doesn't really mention what the technique is or how it works. I am skeptical but I wish they success.

Yeah, I don't think they want to reveal much yet. Best of luck to them indeed.

[cpdwane]

Pleistocene park is already well underway.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleistocene_Park

Thanks for the link. +rep

I understand that there's a similar project in Holland as well.

[MathiasOfAthens]

Mammoth steaks mmmm.....

Id imagine they will all be critically endangered for the next 100 years unless they find a way to breed them faster. I cant imagine they will breed like rabbits or cows though.

It's bigger.

But yeah you've got a point.

The problem I've got with this idea is how they expect the cloned Mammoth to be able to cope with modern diseases. But if that isn't an issue, I think it's a great idea.
I know that in Russia there are (or were) plans to create a national park on the Steppe to hold herds all of the species of animals that lived in the area in the last Ice Age, like Saiga Deer and caribu, alongside modern day recreations of now extinct animals like Konick horses and Heck's cattle. Of course, Mammoths would be the ideal finishing touch.

Saiga Antelope

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Holy ing they look like Aliens. I couldnt believe my eyes when I saw these guys... like Ant Eaters but taller and more like a deer.

[Phier]

Supposedly there is a "new technique"
http://www.digitaltrends.com/interna...oolly-mammoth/

I'm a bit perplexed that they're using an African Elephant though, Loxodonta isn't nearly as close to the Mammoth as Elephas

MMm it doesn't really mention what the technique is or how it works. I am skeptical but I wish them success.

[boofhead]

MMm it doesn't really mention what the technique is or how it works. I am skeptical but I wish them success.

Basically they are just using slower drill speeds to get the DNA. Can't find the link, but the guy tried getting DNA from a sample others had failed to obtain it from. He found that higher drill speeds destroyed the DNA, and managed to successfully obtain it at lower revs.

I suppose the ''new technique'' could be called ''being more careful''.

[John I Tzimisces]

Basically they are just using slower drill speeds to get the DNA. Can't find the link, but the guy tried getting DNA from a sample others had failed to obtain it from. He found that higher drill speeds destroyed the DNA, and managed to successfully obtain it at lower revs.

I suppose the ''new technique'' could be called ''being more careful''.

That actually makes sense, since heat destroys already degraded ancient DNA.

[Jaketh]

pfft, not interested until i see Jurassic Park

[DekuTrash]

Mammoth steaks mmmm.....

[ShADoW]

Mammoth steaks mmmm.....

[Angrychris]

Sounds cool but i expect alot of set backs.

[Nikos]

Sounds cool but i expect alot of set backs.

That's to be expected as cloning extinct animals is a new field! But I wouldn't be surprised if it went relatively smoothly either. You never know what could happen. Just imagining if this project succeeds is amazing! We could, within the Decade, stand face to face with a live Mammoth!

[Saturn]

I'd pay to see it.

[C-Rob]

Mmm, suckling mammoth sounds lovely.(as it would take too long for it to grow up)

[DekuTrash]

Sounds like a lot of people are excited to take a bite of some mammoth.

[MathiasOfAthens]

I dont think some million year old mammoth flu is going to redevelop and wipe us out... much less the chance that it can cross species.