Back from the dead: scientists trying to bring back mammoths

[Private Custard]

Not a good idea at all.

Basically, they're going to create something that isn't ever going to be 100% mammoth, and then spend the next few decades poking and prodding it while it barely survives 10,000 years worth of viral evolution that it's ill-equipped to deal with.

Immunity is unrelated to genetics. It's related to the types of antibodies in the bloodstream. So what you said is ridiculous. Besides, viruses only attack specific species. Remember the end of War of the Worlds? Yeah, you see that was a movie where they made shit up. There are no viruses on Earth that can attack Martians. There are no universal viruses.

I like this idea because it will show we can still use old tissue samples to bring back extinct species. You know the Bee population is declining? Bees are needed to polinate a lot of our food. So if they go extinct...we're screwed. But if we have a tissue sample in storage, we can use this technique to reintroduce them to the wild.

There are a lot of species that are being stored in underground vaults. It would be nice to know we might be able to do something with them one day.

So a creature closely related to elephants stands no chance of catching a modern day virus then??

Even a baby elephant at Twycross Zoo, here in the UK, got ill soon after birth. Imagine what will happen to a creature that hasn't had 10,000 years to build its immune system along with the viruses of the time.

I'm all for keeping tissue samples of important creatures of our time (the bee thing is a good example). But a mammoth.......what's the point?

No-one's offered a single valid reason as to why the mammoth thing is a good idea, when there are plenty of other creatures scientists could work with.

Again, Immunity is unrelated to genetics (which is what cloning works with). It's related to the types of antibodies in the bloodstream.

The mammoth is being born today, not 10,000 years ago and being taken out of hibernation. The immunities to various diseases we are born with are not due to our genes, we get them from our birth mothers. So this mammoth will get his immunities from his birth mother, likely an elephant or something. So this mammoth will be immune to all illnesses that an elephant is immune to.

Does that make sense?

Not a good idea at all.

Basically, they're going to create something that isn't ever going to be 100% mammoth, and then spend the next few decades poking and prodding it while it barely survives 10,000 years worth of viral evolution that it's ill-equipped to deal with.

Immunity is unrelated to genetics. It's related to the types of antibodies in the bloodstream. So what you said is ridiculous. Besides, viruses only attack specific species. Remember the end of War of the Worlds? Yeah, you see that was a movie where they made shit up. There are no viruses on Earth that can attack Martians. There are no universal viruses.

I like this idea because it will show we can still use old tissue samples to bring back extinct species. You know the Bee population is declining? Bees are needed to polinate a lot of our food. So if they go extinct...we're screwed. But if we have a tissue sample in storage, we can use this technique to reintroduce them to the wild.

There are a lot of species that are being stored in underground vaults. It would be nice to know we might be able to do something with them one day.

So a creature closely related to elephants stands no chance of catching a modern day virus then??

Even a baby elephant at Twycross Zoo, here in the UK, got ill soon after birth. Imagine what will happen to a creature that hasn't had 10,000 years to build its immune system along with the viruses of the time.

I'm all for keeping tissue samples of important creatures of our time (the bee thing is a good example). But a mammoth.......what's the point?

No-one's offered a single valid reason as to why the mammoth thing is a good idea, when there are plenty of other creatures scientists could work with.

Again, Immunity is unrelated to genetics (which is what cloning works with). It's related to the types of antibodies in the bloodstream.

The mammoth is being born today, not 10,000 years ago and being taken out of hibernation. The immunities to various diseases we are born with are not due to our genes, we get them from our birth mothers. So this mammoth will get his immunities from his birth mother, likely an elephant or something. So this mammoth will be immune to all illnesses that an elephant is immune to.

Does that make sense?

It does. It's different to what they were saying last time they decided they were going to try 'making' a mammoth, probably about a decade ago.

But, with the illness issue sorted, I still don't see any point when these scientific superbrains could be putting their skills to use with creatures of today.

There's a whole world of endangered and important animals, yet they want to create something that has no place or purpose!

Well, for starters, it will give paleontologists a live mammoth to study. Which is a first. Second, there will be proof that we can bring a species back from extinction. A boon for biology. Third, I think you miss the point of science and experimentation. It's not to do something useful, but to do stuff because we can.

There's very little that can go wrong, and if it works it'll be awesome. You want to bring back endangered animals? Why? Are all the current living members sterile? What point will that have?

You're saying they shouldn't do this because it's not useful. That's a reason to put it on the backburner, not a reason to not do it.

We're never going to see eye to eye on this one.

You want science to have a useless plaything to poke and prod. I think science could divert its attention to more useful pursuits in the same field.

That's about the size of it. We really won't agree, no matter how many times we quote each other!

 

[BlackWidower]

Not a good idea at all.

Basically, they're going to create something that isn't ever going to be 100% mammoth, and then spend the next few decades poking and prodding it while it barely survives 10,000 years worth of viral evolution that it's ill-equipped to deal with.

Immunity is unrelated to genetics. It's related to the types of antibodies in the bloodstream. So what you said is ridiculous. Besides, viruses only attack specific species. Remember the end of War of the Worlds? Yeah, you see that was a movie where they made shit up. There are no viruses on Earth that can attack Martians. There are no universal viruses.

I like this idea because it will show we can still use old tissue samples to bring back extinct species. You know the Bee population is declining? Bees are needed to polinate a lot of our food. So if they go extinct...we're screwed. But if we have a tissue sample in storage, we can use this technique to reintroduce them to the wild.

There are a lot of species that are being stored in underground vaults. It would be nice to know we might be able to do something with them one day.

So a creature closely related to elephants stands no chance of catching a modern day virus then??

Even a baby elephant at Twycross Zoo, here in the UK, got ill soon after birth. Imagine what will happen to a creature that hasn't had 10,000 years to build its immune system along with the viruses of the time.

I'm all for keeping tissue samples of important creatures of our time (the bee thing is a good example). But a mammoth.......what's the point?

No-one's offered a single valid reason as to why the mammoth thing is a good idea, when there are plenty of other creatures scientists could work with.

Again, Immunity is unrelated to genetics (which is what cloning works with). It's related to the types of antibodies in the bloodstream.

The mammoth is being born today, not 10,000 years ago and being taken out of hibernation. The immunities to various diseases we are born with are not due to our genes, we get them from our birth mothers. So this mammoth will get his immunities from his birth mother, likely an elephant or something. So this mammoth will be immune to all illnesses that an elephant is immune to.

Does that make sense?

Not a good idea at all.

Basically, they're going to create something that isn't ever going to be 100% mammoth, and then spend the next few decades poking and prodding it while it barely survives 10,000 years worth of viral evolution that it's ill-equipped to deal with.

Immunity is unrelated to genetics. It's related to the types of antibodies in the bloodstream. So what you said is ridiculous. Besides, viruses only attack specific species. Remember the end of War of the Worlds? Yeah, you see that was a movie where they made shit up. There are no viruses on Earth that can attack Martians. There are no universal viruses.

I like this idea because it will show we can still use old tissue samples to bring back extinct species. You know the Bee population is declining? Bees are needed to polinate a lot of our food. So if they go extinct...we're screwed. But if we have a tissue sample in storage, we can use this technique to reintroduce them to the wild.

There are a lot of species that are being stored in underground vaults. It would be nice to know we might be able to do something with them one day.

So a creature closely related to elephants stands no chance of catching a modern day virus then??

Even a baby elephant at Twycross Zoo, here in the UK, got ill soon after birth. Imagine what will happen to a creature that hasn't had 10,000 years to build its immune system along with the viruses of the time.

I'm all for keeping tissue samples of important creatures of our time (the bee thing is a good example). But a mammoth.......what's the point?

No-one's offered a single valid reason as to why the mammoth thing is a good idea, when there are plenty of other creatures scientists could work with.

Again, Immunity is unrelated to genetics (which is what cloning works with). It's related to the types of antibodies in the bloodstream.

The mammoth is being born today, not 10,000 years ago and being taken out of hibernation. The immunities to various diseases we are born with are not due to our genes, we get them from our birth mothers. So this mammoth will get his immunities from his birth mother, likely an elephant or something. So this mammoth will be immune to all illnesses that an elephant is immune to.

Does that make sense?

It does. It's different to what they were saying last time they decided they were going to try 'making' a mammoth, probably about a decade ago.

But, with the illness issue sorted, I still don't see any point when these scientific superbrains could be putting their skills to use with creatures of today.

There's a whole world of endangered and important animals, yet they want to create something that has no place or purpose!

Well, for starters, it will give paleontologists a live mammoth to study. Which is a first. Second, there will be proof that we can bring a species back from extinction. A boon for biology. Third, I think you miss the point of science and experimentation. It's not to do something useful, but to do stuff because we can.

There's very little that can go wrong, and if it works it'll be awesome. You want to bring back endangered animals? Why? Are all the current living members sterile? What point will that have?

You're saying they shouldn't do this because it's not useful. That's a reason to put it on the backburner, not a reason to not do it.

We're never going to see eye to eye on this one.

You want science to have a useless plaything to poke and prod. I think science could divert its attention to more useful pursuits in the same field.

That's about the size of it. We really won't agree, no matter how many times we quote each other!

As I said, it's a proof of concept so we can bring other extinct species back to life.

There is a practical application for this down the road. Of course science should be useful, and this is. Just not yet. There are steps to be taken.

As a mediocre fictional character once said:

Technological advance is an inherently iterative process. One does not simply take sand from the beach and produce a Dataprobe. We use crude tools to fashion better tools, and then our better tools to fashion more precise tools, and so on. Each minor refinement is a step in the process, and all of the steps must be taken.

 

[Toaster Hunter]

This is probably the coolest thing science has done for us, though I have the feeling it will end horribly in some way.

 

[FalloutJack]

Ummm...see, I think smiledons would actually be safer, since they are of a size/strength that we can actually hope to contain. Mammoth? Mammoth is HUUUUGE, with BIIIIG tusks, hella charging capability. Did I mention they were strong? Basically...one mammoth would be harder to deal with at full size than an entire pack of sabertooth cats. And at least the Raptors are small...

 

[Hawk eye1466]

Soon as i read this i thought jurassic park
i mean its cool that we might be able to bring back an extinct species but sooner or later they are going to reenact jurassic park and i really dont want to be there when the raptors get loose

 

[white_salad]

How long til I can ride one?

 

[zehydra]

"Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should"

-Ian Malcom

 

[Mrsoupcup]

DUDE, JURASSIC PARK WAS RIGHT? HOLLY. SHIT. MIND. BLOWN.

(Can it be Raptor tiem?)

 

[Jekken6]

Awesome. So. Awesome.

 

[xPixelatedx]

"Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should"

I was waiting for that. Seriously, does no one remember Jurassic Park?

You do realize Jurassic Park was a work of fiction. You might as well say, "Doesn't anyone remember Terminator?" in discussions regarding creating AI in the real world, or "Doesn't anyone remember Independence Day?" if and when people might welcome real aliens to earth. You have to realize a lot of these movies and messages they give are there to entertain us and play on our fears of the unknown. The real sad and boring truth of the matter is no one knows what will happen if we bring back mammoths, make a thinking computer or get visited by aliens, and we can hardly use works of fiction as serious references.

 

[demoman_chaos]

This could help feed hungry people, both of the 1st and 3rd world variety (not 2nd though, they are too developed for handouts and too cheap to pay).

If mammoth meat is both tasty and healthy, perhaps Mammoths will become the new cow. Their fur making warm clothing, their meat making warm meals, their bones making sweet drumsticks for rockers, etc.

 

[badgersprite]

Yeah, but when are they going to splice the mammoth with dinosaur DNA, implant it with bionics, and then replace its tusks with laser cannons? I just want a giant robotic laser shooting dinomammoth to walk the earth causing havoc, until another group of scientists create another equally giant monster to battle it to the death. Is that kind of cool shit really too much to ask from science?

 

[Verex]

Aw shit! Zombie mammoths!

Personally, I think it's a waste of time...and space. If they really want to bring back something ancient...a velociraptor would be much cooler.