Science: How To Clone An Extinct Mammoth

Whaaaaat? When I first read about this, I thought, “This is just wrong!” But, I never want to be a person that snubs technology, so I guess I’ll warm up to it. Long story short, scientists recently announced that they are very close (about 4 years away) from cloning a woolly mammoth.

Whenever I hear something like this, the first thing I always think of are the effects on the environment. The woolly mammoth has been extinct for thousands of years. We live in a delicate ecosystem. However, I’m sure these scientists have thought through the ramifications of cloning and “bringing back to life” this huge animal.

Wanna know how it will work? First, cell nuclei will be taken from a sample of tissue found on a frozen mammoth. Then, a viable sample of that nuclei will be put into an egg cell of an elephant. That impregnated elephant will be the surrogate mother for 600 days. Wow, I wonder how the elephant feels about that. Before any of this can happen, the scientists involved have to travel to Siberia to find some 5,000-year-old frozen mammoth tissue in the permafrost. Then, they figure it will take about two years for the elephant to get pregnant. Then, there is another 600 days for the gestation period. Make no mistake this is happening for real. They even have a plan B in case they can’t find viable frozen mammoth tissue. The whole idea of cloning seems very creepy and like a science fiction/horror movie to me. However, it’s coming, so it is what it is. I keep thinking about Jurassic Park. Eeeewww….

Via: [Telegraph] [Technabob]