What happens next? A short burst of mammoth steaks followed by re-extinction.
this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2024
62 points (98.4% liked)
Science
13206 readers
7 users here now
Subscribe to see new publications and popular science coverage of current research on your homepage
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
The science is very neat, but should likely be focusing on solving current issues instead of creating new ones.
Scientists have been edging us with woolly mammoths for decades.
Where the fuck are they going to live? The climate is rapidly warming and these are ice age creatures.
"You are alive again, no need to thank us. Now go out and play, it's winter and 40°C, you'll love it!"
Bringing them back from extinction just so we can make sure they suffer before going extinct again by us.
There are countless species going extinct as I'm typing this bullshit.
Bringing back mammoths could have a sizable positive impact on arctic ecosystem AND climate change.
It sounds like a far fetched idea but this article is talking in details about this theory.
Right. Cuz the fastest and better way to stop this planet from a climate disaster is bringing back mammals from extinction while we are busy exterminatig all other life on the planet.
Sounds like pure hubries
What do you mean? We have the perfect conditions for this ice age monster elephant, they have wool because they want it warm, we have it warm now so why be upset??? /s
The technology being developed to bring back an extinct species could be used to ensure extinction is no longer a possibility.
I really think you missed my point. And if not, please explain how it can undo all the damage that causes current extinctions
I do acknowledge that the planet is fucked and making a wooly mammoth will not in any way address the root causes of that. The point I'm making is that if this is developed and perfected there is hope for a path back to biodiversity as long as humans get their shit together and unfuck the planet.
I know that the glass is way beyond half empty, I have to remember that there is a little water left or else all I'm left with is despair
I feel you my friend...
I don’t fucking care, I want woolly mammoths and dodos.
"We have no idea what happens next."
I'm pretty sure there's a movie about this.
Ah yes, yet another case of Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
What happens next? A wave of even worse disregard for things.
After all, if we can bring back the mammoth, who cares if we off , they’ll just bring it back next rotation. /s
The first Jurassic Park quote applies here, a few have used a variation of that idea of doing something just because you can. The other quote follows it, "Dinosaurs and man, two species separated by 65 million years of evolution have just been suddenly thrown back into the mix together. How can we possibly have the slightest idea what to expect?"
These aren't dinosaurs and are a lot closer to us in the timeline, but definitely reintroducing them in a large scale would have some effect to the environment they're put in. Perhaps we only make a few...seems kind of pointless though to bring back a species but keep them at extinction levels. And can they even survive as they were in a warming planet? We might not even be able to, and we're younger and current.
The genetic science is cool, the consequences of the science are non-existent. The consequences of using them as bio-engineering agents is obviously an open question, but a distraction at this point of time since governments around the world have no appetite for environmental science that doesn't directly make someone money.
As for "what happens next," it either becomes commercially viable and wolly mammoths are seen as mundane and numerous in the next few decades, or it becomes a one-off like Dolly the sheep and the herd population of woolly mammoths stays <10 plus maybe a few zoos.
Imagine how confused that mammoth is going to be.
man i wish that's how genetics worked
I was just thinking about Elephants and how intelligent and social they are. A lone mammoth would be sad.
i mean they'd be birthed by elephants, presumably they'd also live with elephants at first.
start with making sure the things actually stay alive, then move onto making them act like mammoths properly.
Hmm good point. For some reason I just assumed they'd grow it in a tube.
edit: you're right, this is from the article:
To produce the calves, Colossal scientists will first identify the genes encoding the woolly mammoth's most emblematic physical traits, such as shaggy hair, curved tusks, fat deposits and a dome-shaped cranium. They will then insert these genes into the genome of closely related, and therefore genetically similar, Asian elephants (Elephas maximus).
So they're basically gonna create a new type of mammoth (basically) by gene editing an existing species..
I don't have to imagine. I'm just as confused
What happans next?
McDonalds releases a new burger!
Just because you can doesn't mean you should.