NationStates Jolt Archive

Article
(http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=783949)

Woolly mammoth revival 'possible'
Scientists have held out hope of resurrecting the woolly mammoth by extracting sperm from animals encased in ice.

Researchers have made the surprising discovery that sperm taken from the frozen reproductive organs of dead mice can produce viable offspring.

Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they suggest that sperm from frozen mammoths could be used to bring the extinct creatures back to life.

The idea would be to inject mammoth sperm, assuming it could be retrieved, into the eggs of female elephants.

A successful pregnancy would produce the closest thing possible to a living woolly mammoth, the result of crossing one of the extinct animals with a close modern day relative.

Sperm is routinely frozen for In-Vitro Fertilisation treatment, but has to be carefully stored and protected.

The new research showed that it is possible simply to freeze whole male mice, or their reproductive organs, and use the sperm extracted from them to produce offspring.

In one test, sperm were retrieved from the bodies of mice that had been kept frozen at minus 20C for 15 years. The freezing procedure involved no hi-tech cryoprotection, said the Japanese scientists, led by Dr Atsuo Ogura from the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research in Ibaraki.

It was not known how long viable sperm could be frozen in animal bodies, said the researchers. But the findings raised the intriguing prospect of resurrecting extinct animals that had remained frozen since the ice age.

The scientists wrote: "If spermatozoa of extinct mammalian species (eg woolly mammoth) can be retrieved from animal bodies that were kept frozen for millions of years in permanent frost, live animals might be restored by injecting them into oocytes (eggs) from females of closely related species."


Well according to scientists they can bring the wolly mammoth back from extinction. Is this a good or bad thing. Discuss!!

Well... this will make it MUCH easier to make my ivory house. :p

i would use my mammoth as mode of transport, no one messes with the guy on the mammoth....

Unless they have a live mammoth female, it'll be hard to bring them back. Because besides a fertilised egg, you need a working mammoth womb. Or something that is a good enough substitute (and it is very much a question if there is a good enough substitute. Elephants may not be compatible)

Well all I'm gonna say is I can finall own a real life Manford ( please see Ice Age for details)

i would use my mammoth as mode of transport, no one messes with the guy on the mammoth....
I wanna ride one to uni!
That'll teach the traffic jams to make me late...

I wanna ride one to uni!
That'll teach the traffic jams to make me late...


just step over the traffic....

its their fault for not moving out of the way....im on a friggin mammoth here!

I wonder what sort of personalities mammoths had. If they were as ferocious as water buffaloes then Id say it is a bad idea.

Unless they have a live mammoth female, it'll be hard to bring them back. Because besides a fertilised egg, you need a working mammoth womb. Or something that is a good enough substitute (and it is very much a question if there is a good enough substitute. Elephants may not be compatible)

Elephants are compatible. I've heard about this scheme before, in effect, they won't be creating Mammoths, but Mammoth-Elephant hybrids. The plan is to then breed out the elephant qualities untill you've got a fairly passable Woolly Mammoth.

Unless they have a live mammoth female, it'll be hard to bring them back. Because besides a fertilised egg, you need a working mammoth womb. Or something that is a good enough substitute (and it is very much a question if there is a good enough substitute. Elephants may not be compatible)

Well, it is possible to "breed back" from a hybrid via inbreeding to get an approximation of one of the origal parents. Plant and dog breeders do it all the time. "Lost breeds" have been "resurrected" using the technique.

That is, if Elephants and Mammoths can interbreed, which we don't know. It should be possible if they have the same number of chromosomes.

Unless they have a live mammoth female, it'll be hard to bring them back. Because besides a fertilised egg, you need a working mammoth womb. Or something that is a good enough substitute (and it is very much a question if there is a good enough substitute. Elephants may not be compatible)
I assume they'd probably use an elephant and keep cross-breeding until they come up as close to pure Mammoth as we'd ever likely to see.

Many animals can cross breed. Mules are the classic example, but there's also a horsey-zebra thingy, even a donkey/zebra (called a Zonkey for obvious reasons).
The best, imo, is the Liger - a male Lion/female Tiger cross. Those things are fucking HUGE - basically the same as a Lion and tiger mashed together. We're talking 11 feet long and 500+ kgs, in some cases. The male Liger is infertile, but the female can breed.
Don't believe me about their size?
http://home.blarg.net/~wayule/graphics/liger1.jpg
What about now?
(a female lion/male tiger x is called a Tigon. Oddly enough, they're dwarfs - ~ 1/2 the size of a normal lion).


Ironic that we might be close to resurrecting a Ice Age animal just as we're busy destroying their natural habitat thru global warming.

i would use my mammoth as mode of transport, no one messes with the guy on the mammoth....


A good idea as petrol is too expensive. Will there be seperate lanes for Mammals?

A good idea as petrol is too expensive. Will there be seperate lanes for Mammals?

And more importantly - can you carpool with them?

A good idea as petrol is too expensive. Will there be seperate lanes for Mammals?
Are you kidding? It's a fuckin' mammoth. Every lane is the mammoth lane.

Are you kidding? It's a fuckin' mammoth. Every lane is the mammoth lane.


Next on Fox: "When Mammoths Attack!"

A good idea as petrol is too expensive. Will there be seperate lanes for Mammals?


yeah, but the weigh stations may turn out to be a problem though.

yeah, but the weigh stations may turn out to be a problem though.

Only if we use them for trucking

Next on Fox: "When Mammoths Attack!"


"Watch as a full grown mammoth goes head on with Rosie O Donnell...who will survive? Stay tuned to find out when...........MAMMOTHS ATTACK!"

Only if we use them for trucking


better hope the truck doesnt have livestock in it, cause then the mammoth may not be stopped....

Next on Fox: "When Mammoths Attack!"

Followed by: Are Al Quaeda jealous of our Mammoths? Fox says: 'Yes they are, the dirty brown Muslim people.'

The only thing more dangerous than Chuck Norris riding a mammoth is a mammoth riding Chuck Norris.

Ironic that we might be close to resurrecting a Ice Age animal just as we're busy destroying their natural habitat thru global warming.

I think their natural habitat died before they did.

The only thing more dangerous than Chuck Norris riding a mammoth is a mammoth riding Chuck Norris.


that would be most unholy......

Followed by: Are Al Quaeda jealous of our Mammoths? Fox says: 'Yes they are, the dirty brown Muslim people.'


Next on FOX News

Camel Jockeys vs. Mammoth Jockeys....who will win the race to be the ultimate sandmonkey? Find out tonight on the O'Reilly Factor

yeah, but the weigh stations may turn out to be a problem though.

LOL!

Mammoths are the future of transportation!

Well according to scientists they can bring the wolly mammoth back from extinction. Is this a good or bad thing. Discuss!!

well technically, humans are at least partially responsible for their extinction, so there is the 'fixing what we broke' end of it. and i do feel a general attraction to the whole concept of the pleistocene as the goal to aim for in conservation and restoration.

on the other hand, i can see some bastards using the ability to bring back extinct species if we have enough genetic samples as an excuse to get rid of environmental protections that we have now. no need to protect what we can always recreate after all. of course, the bastards already argue against pretty much everything anyways, so that probably shouldn't be counted for too much.

LOL!

Mammoths are the future of transportation!


they are more than just the future of transportation.......

I'm not so sure bringing back the wooly mammoth is a wise course. Dish washers and shower faucets have become much smaller since the Flintstones' era.

I guess that depends what they taste like, doesn't it? :)

I guess that depends what they taste like, doesn't it? :)


mmmmm


barbequed mammoth.

*drools*

mmmmm


barbequed mammoth.

*drools*

Baked Stuffed Mammoth. Feeds 1,000. :eek:

Baked Stuffed Mammoth. Feeds 1,000. :eek:


mammoths would end world hunger!

If elephants and mammoths turn out to have been closely related enough to create a viable offspring, why not? I wouldn't suggest trying to reintroduce the wooly mammoth into the wild, given that it may not fit back into the ecosystem very well. But we could certainly have a domesticated version that would allow us to study just how closely related they were.

If elephants and mammoths turn out to have been closely related enough to create a viable offspring, why not? I wouldn't suggest trying to reintroduce the wooly mammoth into the wild, given that it may not fit back into the ecosystem very well. But we could certainly have a domesticated version that would allow us to study just how closely related they were.

As long as we're playing god, maybe we can actually decide what they taste like.

Chicken would be the safe choice. :p

But I'm thinking something more challenging. Like smoked salmon. :)

As long as we're playing god, maybe we can actually decide what they taste like.

Chicken would be the safe choice. :p

But I'm thinking something more challenging. Like smoked salmon. :)


what about roast beef taste?

mmmmm


barbequed mammoth.

*drools*
Thats a mammoth spit roast you got there pardner.

Thats a mammoth spit roast you got there pardner.


complete with bonfire i hope....

Some Russian scientists did chow down on one of the Siberian mammoths, a bit of mammoth stew. I believe it was described as tasting "gamey."

Some Russian scientists did chow down on one of the Siberian mammoths, a bit of mammoth stew. I believe it was described as tasting "gamey."


gamey = goodness

gamey = goodness

Like turkey gamey, or like 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?' gamey?

Like turkey gamey, or like 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?' gamey?


well hopefully not the latter....dont want my mammoth tastin like regis philbin

Some Russian scientists did chow down on one of the Siberian mammoths, a bit of mammoth stew. I believe it was described as tasting "gamey."

This reminds me of a Northern Exposure episode

This reminds me of a Northern Exposure episode


now thats a show i havent seen in the longest.....

they froze those mice? that's terrible!

they froze those mice? that's terrible!

Popsicles for cats. :)

I wouldn't suggest trying to reintroduce the wooly mammoth into the wild, given that it may not fit back into the ecosystem very well.

i don't know, the ecosystems in question spent a much longer time coevolving with mammoths than they have spent without them. and in many places where the mammoths lived the current ecosystem is a barely functional wreck anyways.

Popsicles for cats. :)


as long as they leave my 4 mice alone im cool....

I went and read the Wiki article on mammoths and according to them, all the frozen ones had decayed to some extent before freezing, and they were ... well, the word they used was "stench." Seems only the dogs along on the expedition would eat them. So much for 20,000 year old mammoth stew.

as long as they leave my 4 mice alone im cool....

Otherwise, they are.

I don't get why so many scientists and whatnot want to play god. I expect some security videos to seem an awful lot like Jurassic Park.

I assume they'd probably use an elephant and keep cross-breeding until they come up as close to pure Mammoth as we'd ever likely to see.

Many animals can cross breed. Mules are the classic example, but there's also a horsey-zebra thingy, even a donkey/zebra (called a Zonkey for obvious reasons).
The best, imo, is the Liger - a male Lion/female Tiger cross. Those things are fucking HUGE - basically the same as a Lion and tiger mashed together. We're talking 11 feet long and 500+ kgs, in some cases. The male Liger is infertile, but the female can breed.
Don't believe me about their size?
http://home.blarg.net/~wayule/graphics/liger1.jpg
What about now?
(a female lion/male tiger x is called a Tigon. Oddly enough, they're dwarfs - ~ 1/2 the size of a normal lion).


Ironic that we might be close to resurrecting a Ice Age animal just as we're busy destroying their natural habitat thru global warming.O.o...

... So Napoleon Dynamite was talking about a real life creature when he mentioned Ligers, eh? lol

Unless they have a live mammoth female, it'll be hard to bring them back. Because besides a fertilised egg, you need a working mammoth womb. Or something that is a good enough substitute (and it is very much a question if there is a good enough substitute. Elephants may not be compatible)


As long as the embryo will continue to gestate in the elephants womb, it would work.
Technically the female elephant wouldnt even have to deliver the infant mammoth.
It could be surgically delivered.

Article
(http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=783949)



Well according to scientists they can bring the wolly mammoth back from extinction. Is this a good or bad thing. Discuss!!
the real question is are the scientists asking themselves "can we?" or "Should We?"

the mammoth died out for a reason. why bring it back?

to study? what... the envrionment is different, there are no other mammoths to teach it their ways (not everything is instinct)... and who knows what impact that would have on the envrionment?

the real question is are the scientists asking themselves "can we?" or "Should We?"

the mammoth died out for a reason. why bring it back?

to study? what... the envrionment is different, there are no other mammoths to teach it their ways (not everything is instinct)... and who knows what impact that would have on the envrionment?

We look at instinct, physiology, what we can deduce, etc.
It certainly wouldn't be released into the wild.

O.o...

... So Napoleon Dynamite was talking about a real life creature when he mentioned Ligers, eh? lol


Well...

They are bred for thier skills in magic.

We look at instinct, physiology, what we can deduce, etc.
It certainly wouldn't be released into the wild.

Mmm-hmm.

Life will find a way. *nod*

Ironic that we might be close to resurrecting a Ice Age animal just as we're busy destroying their natural habitat thru global warming.
That's what i was thinking.

Where do we put teh fuckers?

I don't get why so many scientists and whatnot want to play god. I expect some security videos to seem an awful lot like Jurassic Park.
WTF? Why wouldn't you want to play god? Being God would be badass.

the real question is are the scientists asking themselves "can we?" or "Should We?"

the mammoth died out for a reason. why bring it back?

to study? what... the envrionment is different, there are no other mammoths to teach it their ways (not everything is instinct)... and who knows what impact that would have on the envrionment?
Well, I know for sure humans aren't part of the reason mammoths died out.http://209.85.48.10/3630/189/emo/shiftyeyes.gif

Also, what about when the mammoths went extict? The species disappear fairly quickly.

This may cause problems for animals who never had to live with these wolly mammoths.:confused:
What if they start attacking humans?
Also. The climate with global warming won't be right for them and they'll just die.

This may cause problems for animals who never had to live with these wolly mammoths.:confused:
What if they start attacking humans?
Also. The climate with global warming won't be right for them and they'll just die.
If they attack us?

We'd put the fear back in them.

Death to All Surfacers!
How dare they misuse good Mouse jizz!:mad:

WTF? Why wouldn't you want to play god? Being God would be badass.

Because as Victor Frankenstein can tell you, "It's all fun and games until your creation turns on you and kills you horribly only to meet it's doom shortly afterward at the hands of an angry mob with pitchforks and torches."

Well according to scientists they can bring the wolly mammoth back from extinction. Is this a good or bad thing. Discuss!!

Only to let them get extinct a second time maybe?