It's interesting, but do we really need to do it.

Have you ever considered that perhaps animals go extinct for a reason? Do we really need to preserve every living create on earth forever?

These are questions I would ask myself before jumping into something like this.

The science behind it is unquestionably amazing though.

Lets all hope this is true cause I know for sure I would pay thousands to see a Mammoth or Dinosaur.

Who cares if they went extinct if they can bring them back Im am all for it, to experience a attraction like Jurrassic Park would be awesome!!!!!!

60,000 years ago there were no dinosaurs,anyway im guessing they would just be bringing it back for research purposes,not to inhabit earth again.Like someone said,they went extinct for a reason,species go extinct everyday,its natural.

The Mammoths if recreated would mostly be in Siberia where they can survive. So it is upto the Russians to decide what to do with them.

What I dont understand here is how would these mammoths act and behave, like they did in anceint times, where would they get all this information from, for example what to eat, where to eat, how to reproduce?

Or would they be like elephants inside a mammoth!

All I can ask about this revelation is . . . why?

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for the furthering of science and the preservation of history.

But we can't find a cure for cancer, the AIDS disease is apparently incurable, we've a host of socio-econmic concerns that the world cannot solve, but we've go the money to recreate a big old hairy beast of some sort for . . . um . . . for . . .

Hmmmmmm . . . I must be thick because I just don' t get it.

Did you guys read the article? Yes a mammoth would be fascinating, any extinct species would be. But a Neanderthal would be even MORE fascinating!

The full genome of the Neanderthal, an ancient human species probably driven to extinction by the first modern humans that entered Europe some 45,000 years ago, is expected to be recovered shortly. If the mammoth can be resurrected, the same would be technically possible for Neanderthals.

But the process of genetically engineering a human genome into the Neanderthal version would probably raise many objections, as would several other aspects of such a project. “ Dr. Church said there might be an alternative approach that would “alarm a minimal number of people.” The workaround would be to modify not a human genome but that of the chimpanzee, which is some 98 percent similar to that of people. The chimp’s genome would be progressively modified until close enough to that of Neanderthals, and the embryo brought to term in a chimpanzee.

“The big issue would be whether enough people felt that a chimp-Neanderthal hybrid would be acceptable, and that would be broadly discussed before anyone started to work on it,” Dr. Church said.

I find the idea of it being "wrong" to use human DNA to be amusing.

I am no expert at cloning, but I thought it was a rather brutal process from the standpoint of tryin several times (and thereby creating several fetuses that either die, or are aborted for various reasons). That is why I have always found the idea of cloning deceased companion animals or children to be rather horrendous, if you love them that much who would want to see various versions created only to die in an attempt to get one you will keep?

But regardless, Neanderthals are very very close to humans (they probably interbred with modern humans, but then again rumor has it modern humans may be able to interbreed with chimpanzees). That would be very interesting, and if the modern humans don't want THEIR dna to be used in such a manner they have a heck of a lot of nerve saying it is okay to experiment with Neanderthal DNA. Sounds like a complete disregard for the rights of Neanderthals.

It would be fascinating to see the product of the regeneration, certainly, and it holds a definite entertainment value for us. The problem I see here is the quality of life that would be provided for a mammoth or Neanderthal, or other animal, if we were to engage in regeneration. Would they live a life on display as showpieces for the public? Would they be subject to extensive and painful prodding and testing by scientists? Would they ever be able to live a normal, free life? And if so, where would we put them? Is there really anywhere on earth where creatures like these could live freely and comfortably without wreaking havoc upon the natural balance? Do most people really care if these animals have a "happy" existence or not?

There are a lot of questions to be answered. Frankly, I wouldn't trust humans to regenerate these extinct creatures and NOT completely and utterly exploit and victimize them--we already do this so well with the animals that are currently living.

[edit on 20/11/08 by paperplanes]

Originally posted by sunny_2008ny
Modern human cannot interbreed with the chimp, this has already been tried. The chimp's body does not accept that.

However the article mentions progressive development of Neanderthal DNA to ultimately produce a human? What do you mean progressive development? Where would all these intermediate creatures be kept and what would we call them? Neanderthal, Chimps or Humans?

I have read the Russians tried to impregnate human females with chimp semen, none of the experiments were successful but not sure if any eggs were fertilized. They were trying to create super human/chimp hybrid soldiers, because chimps have several times the physical strength of humans, however there was a concern over the emotional stability of these super strong hybrids.

But regardless, what part says progressive development of neanderthal dna to produce a human? I thought the goal was to modify human dna to produce a neanderthal (creating another human would not be much of an attraction, we already have 6 billion humans).

Originally posted by sunny_2008ny
Also remember that Neaderthals and Humans have/had emotions, language capacity, speech etc. If we are able to create Neandertals from chimps where would all these abilities come into them from? From DNA? I quite dont understand it !

Well chimps certainly have emotions and the capability to communicate through sign language. The main difference would be the ability to speak, we are unique among primates in that way (but of course many other animals can communicate well verbally amongst themselves). The idea is to modify chimp dna to become more and more similar to neanderthal dna, and then match the modified chimp egg with neanderthal dna to create a nearly pure neanderthal (I think, I am obviously not a geneticist).



[edit on 20-11-2008 by Sonya610]

Originally posted by nyk537

The science behind it is unquestionably amazing though.

I think thats probably the only reason to do it... just to get the experience of reviving something that has been extinct for a while. We could then undertake a "Noahs Ark" project of taking blood samples from all endangered animals and storing them in a vault akin to the Svalbard seed vault could result in the re-creation of exotic animals down the line.

Not particularly useful, but then again the most fascinating things in life throw up some unexpected benefits (eg velcro from the space industry etc).

Science for science's sake... I love it. Keep at it mad scientists!