Mmmmm..... Mammoth Steak...

[ash]

The Japanese are making some breakthroughs in cloning technology!
Check out the link below:

news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=660116

Japanese scientists say they have created a mouse from a dead cell frozen for 16 years, taking a step in the long impossible dream of bringing back extinct animals such as mammoths.

Scientists at the government-backed research institute Riken used the dead cell of a mouse that had been preserved at minus 20 degrees celsius - a temperature similar to frozen ground.

The scientists hope the research will pave the way to restore extinct animals such as the mammoth.

The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States.

The scientists extracted a cell nucleus from an organ of the dead mouse and planted it into an egg of another mouse which was alive, leading to the birth of the cloned mouse, the researchers said.

"The newly developed technology of nucleus transfer greatly improved the possibility of reviving extinct animals," the research team led by Teruhiko Wakayama said in a statement.

The cloned mouse was able to reproduce with a female mouse, it added.

But the researchers said tough challenges remain ahead on how to restore extinct animals, which would require breeding with animals that are still alive.

To revive a mammoth, researchers would need to find a way to implant a cell nucleus of a mammoth into the egg of an elephant and then implant the embryo into an elephant's uterus, it said.

The elephant is the closest modern relative of the mammoth, a huge woolly mammal believed to have died out in the Ice Age.

[calicojack]

This could easily end up a jurassic park issue....... I dont think science should mess with the results of natural selection...those animals are dead for a reason, their physical traits were not suited for their environment. while i can see why they have decided to do it (learn about the animals behaviours etc and the classic reason behind most experiments at this level "just to see if we can") i dont think from an ethical point of view that this i right. consider the issues with the "Dolly" sheep,cloning project and chinese bull cloning projects, these clones created form old and "damaged" DNA, there are still huge problems with the use of this DNA as it prematurly ages the animal and causing illness in the animals not normaly seen until the animal is several years older. in an animal with a lifespan similar to an elephants (75 years and upwards)this reduces the quality of life and lifespan....ok ill get off my soapbox now....

[majordodo]

Ah but cloning techniques have come a long way since dolly theyve cloned more animals since then that have faired much better. And you're wrong about natural traits, you forgot about all those animals that are extinct purely due to human influence such as the tassy tiger and most importantly THE DODO BIRD.

[ash]

They were not fit to survive in a world that includes us...

[majordodo]

lol wrong they were found to be a vital part of the ecosystem. turns out this big type of tree that covers the place is now slowly dieing out because new ones wont grow. the fruit would be eating by dodo's whose stomic juices were just the right acidity to soften the seed shells. which would then get shat out ready to grow. without the dodo's the shells are too hard and the seeds cant grow last i knew they were trying to find artificial ways of doing it. but yeah, plus dodos are good eating

[ash]

I know of the Calvaria tree (of the mauritious) which you speak and all about that.
It does not matter whether a species is vital to the eco system or not. They were not fit to survive in a world that included us. They were made extict, they failed at surviving as we were more fit then them.

The Calvaria tree may well go extinct too because of all this but that too just did not deserve to survive if it was not adaptable enough.

Many species have gone extict due to a changing eco system. It has happened many times and will continue to happen.

Survival of the fittest.

[majordodo]

Lol not true, the dodo's died because we ate them

[calicojack]

they didnt survive natural selection then.....the main points of natural selection are
ONE. find food
TWO find shelter
THREE Find a Mate
FOUR. AVOID PREDATION!!

now that tree will either die out, or due to this "natural selection" will develop into a tree that can survive without the assistance of the dodo.

bird fail
tree fail
darwin fail

[majordodo]

Pfft everyone knows humanity doesnt count in natural selection. Since we've f**ked over EVERYTHING.

[bigdave]

My only question is where is the profit in doing it? This is not meant to be a cynical question by the type of research is going to cost a lot of money and even with all the recognized "Non-profit" research groups out there they only tend to work on research that will directly meet a recognized problem or disease. That only leaves Multi-national corporations (who, lets face it, have to answer to there share holders. Ergo:- must make a profit, preferably a large one. Sorry I forgot one, the worlds military, and for the life of me I can't think of how "Woolly Mammoths" will help them attack or defend anything.

[majordodo]

Ahhhh DUUUHHH. Giant Wooly Attack Mammoths >_> obviously

[steve]

dude, TOURISM.
who wouldnt wanna go to dinosaur zoo? of course, youd do the reasearch: watch the movies etc, bring some major weapons.

and whats scarier that an attack dog?
an attack Velocer Raptor, thats what.

[ash]

Steve.... You have not been on this board for such a long time then when you do you post in a thread that allows you to rant about velociraptors....

You are strange...

[majordodo]

Its a good kind of strange. I like steve, steve should post more often. Mmmmm velociraptors. Reminds me of the Runaways comic series by marvel. "No i dont have any powers... but DO have a telepathic link to a ancient veloco dinosaur thingy"

[calicojack]

i love dinosaurs.....
i wrote a song for them
(to the tune of the jurassic park theme)
dinosaurs dinosaurs do do do do do do do..

i think the point of the mammoth is more of a "sell monkey stew to the army" kind of idea or in this case mamoth stew... rather than for the attack of defence capabilities its a for of rations lol
i love how this thread skews off into an alternate 1985 style tangent.




Sex change frog do do do do dooooooooooooooooooooo!