Woolly mammoths could be walking the Earth again in as little as 4 years, according to a Japanese scientist. A technique pioneered in 2008 successfully cloned a mouse from the cells of a mouse frozen for 16 years, and the professor believes he can use the same technique to resurrect the mammoth, which has been extinct for 5,000 years.Do we need woolly mammoths? Maybe a sabre-toothed cat or two could be brought back too. I'll bet zoo directors all over the world are seeing the potential for big bucks from this.
"Now the technical problems have been overcome, all we need is a good sample of soft tissue from a frozen mammoth," the professor tells the Telegraph. He plans to travel to Siberia this summer to search for mammoths in the permafrost. When a suitable sample is found, he aims to use an elephant for the surrogate mother. He estimates the elephant can be impregnated within two years, followed by a 600-day gestation period.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Jurassic Park May Become a Reality
Maybe not dinosaurs, but some of the ancient mammals could be making a comeback:
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This is great news! We could eliminate the rhetoric about animals becoming distinct and endangered species stopping power plant construction. Just harvest and store DNA from all these 'threatened' animals. Snail darters and kangaroo rats die out? No problem if they do indeed become instinct - we can always bring them back again.
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