Scientists Hope To Clone Extinct Species

[Cheese]

Ooooooooo...my Grandmther will be happy to hear this! I wonder what my cloned Grandfather would say though?

[rogermexico]

Geez, Michael Crichton isn't even cold yet and we've already forgot all his dire warnings...

[flip]

Originally Posted by worth

do we have dna from a mammoth? how are we to actually clone an animal without knowing exactly how it is made up?

I'm sure whatever they don't have Rosie O'Donnell will fill in the missing links nicely.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by worth

do we have dna from a mammoth? how are we to actually clone an animal without knowing exactly how it is made up?

I would assume we have mammoths frozen to the extent that their dna is pretty much in tact. Then again I know absolutely nothing of science or archeology, so perhaps I'm not the best guy to be offering opinion on the matter.

[RougeUnderoos]

This is neato and all, but really, what's the point? What are we gonna do with a mammoth (or anything else they can come up with to clone)?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by worth

do we have dna from a mammoth? how are we to actually clone an animal without knowing exactly how it is made up?

Fill it in with frog DNA silly. Everyone knows that. How did you pass elementary Mad Science?

[Prototype]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

This is neato and all, but really, what's the point? What are we gonna do with a mammoth (or anything else they can come up with to clone)?

Capitivty is better than extiction. We have to teach the youth about the past, by cloning it, and putting it in a cage, with electric fences, which some fatso will shut off during a tropical storm.

[North East Goon]

Originally Posted by flip

I'm sure whatever they don't have Rosie O'Donnell will fill in the missing links nicely.

That is gold - gold I tell ya!

[blankall]

Originally Posted by worth

do we have dna from a mammoth? how are we to actually clone an animal without knowing exactly how it is made up?

Serioiusly though they do find fully frozen mammoths all the time in siberia.

These mammoths have been frozen thousands of years though and the mice in the experiment only 15. I'm guessing the DNA from these mammoth's isn't quite as intact as the mice.

[Five-hole]

Wouldn't the bigger problem be "birthing" this mammoth rather than how intact the DNA is?

[Knut]

Originally Posted by Five-hole

Wouldn't the bigger problem be "birthing" this mammoth rather than how intact the DNA is?

^^^ see Rosie O'Donnell above

[CaptainCrunch]

Just think of the applications

I could have 10 of me working 10 different jobs while I reap the benefits.

I could clone my enemy a 100 times and kill each in a more grizzly way while letting the original guy survive ( I mean really its not murder if you kill a clone)

I could have my best friend build a drone army in his back yard, then we could fight a sham war which would end of with me as the supreme leader of our neighbourhood watch program.

For those moments of self loathing I could punch myself in the face.

When my buddies ask me to help them move, I could send a clone.

I could become rich by making a 1000 copies of myself and sending them out to sperm doner clinics at $50.00 a shot.

Awesome

[photon]

Getting complete DNA from a frozen mammoth is probably impossible, but maybe enough could be recovered to do something with it. Some parts of the DNA haven't changed in a very long time, the stuff that controls other genes to control things like bilateral symmetry, or put an eye here, or put the nerve cord along the back, all is pretty much the same among all forms of similar kinds of life. You can take the gene that says "put an eye here" from a mouse and put it in a fly and it will still create the eye just as it should (the fly eye I mean, the actual makeup of the eye is controlled by other genes).

So I think it depends on what genes are lost and what genes are recoverable.

[Thor]

I'm going to watch Multiplicity again!

[Ford Prefect]

nm

[icarus]

Originally Posted by photon

Getting complete DNA from a frozen mammoth is probably impossible, but maybe enough could be recovered to do something with it. Some parts of the DNA haven't changed in a very long time, the stuff that controls other genes to control things like bilateral symmetry, or put an eye here, or put the nerve cord along the back, all is pretty much the same among all forms of similar kinds of life. You can take the gene that says "put an eye here" from a mouse and put it in a fly and it will still create the eye just as it should (the fly eye I mean, the actual makeup of the eye is controlled by other genes).

So I think it depends on what genes are lost and what genes are recoverable.

Yeah HOX genes should be okay. Most of the DNA would be unrecoverable but if you have a whole frozen mammoth I bet you could find one somatic cell with DNA still intact. I have little doubt they could do it... eventually. I see the main hurdle being the telomeres, people think that was responsible for Dolly's poor health and she was cloned from living DNA.

[Yeah_Baby]

"Oooh, Ahhhh. That's how it always starts. Then, there's running and screaming."

[TheyCallMeBruce]

We're doomed!!!

[worth]

DINOSAURS + LASERS = AWESOME