On January 18 2011 21:16 Kirameki wrote:
People that say this is immoral really bother me. Do people know how many animals suffer for our food? It's literally billions of animals throughout all these industrialized years.

And just one mammoth for the sake of science is immoral and that they ought to stay extinct because they are extinct for a reason...

Maybe it's not worth the effort but calling it immoral is really annoying.

Off Topic: Sorry, I just read that word and after reading the ultralisk jokes, I really read that as "immortal"

Anyway, I hope that they can do it, 'cos the cloning of the tasmanian tiger didn't work out too well.

sk`

Japan442 Posts

January 18 2011 12:51 GMT

#24

On January 18 2011 21:22 Mr Tambourine Man wrote:
OH YEAH!!! Mammoth steak!! My mouth is watering already!!

This opened my eyes... at first I was like "why don't the clone something cool, like a Liger", but now I want to eat grill mammoth.

Linkirvana

Netherlands365 Posts

January 18 2011 12:59 GMT

#25

Mammoth steak doesn't sound very good, I mean sorta elephant meat?

My suggestion would be to replace horses with mammoths. Maybe place some guns on top of them or something. Then we should totally call them mammoth tanks. I love command & conquer.

hifriend

China7935 Posts

January 18 2011 12:59 GMT

#26

On January 18 2011 21:51 sk` wrote:

Show nested quote +

This opened my eyes... at first I was like "why don't the clone something cool, like a Liger", but now I want to eat grill mammoth.

A liger is just a hybrid...

romulus

Slovakia14 Posts

January 18 2011 13:00 GMT

#27

If this succeeds, there will be so many "Meanwhile in Japan..." demots featuring a mammoth picture I cant even imagine. It would be awesome though

ccou

United States681 Posts

January 18 2011 13:10 GMT

#28

Huh, I remember 2 years ago, reading about these types of cloning on mice in my biology class yielded a ton of birth defects such as disproportionately large organs and pervasive tumors. I guess, good luck Japanese scientists!

anatem

Romania1369 Posts

January 18 2011 13:12 GMT

#29

good luck to them in this completely retardedly futile endeavor.

elephants are fast becoming obsolete, and i'm not saying that because they've been hunted to the brink of extinction, but because situations where tigers or lions effectively hunt adult male elephants are becoming more and more common. if this isn't nature's way of saying "your time is up", i don't know what is

now the purpose of a mammoth on earth is what again ? not like you're gonna raise herds like with cows for food. and they might as well clone something else if they want to work on their technology and make some breakthroughs in science instead of headlines in tabloids

KwarK

United States41958 Posts

January 18 2011 13:15 GMT

#30

On January 18 2011 21:14 Chriamon wrote:
Probably won't work, weren't scientists already trying to resurrect the Tazmanian tiger, which has only been extinct for ~60 years, to no success.

Tasmania doesn't have so much permafrost.

Sufficiency

Canada23833 Posts

January 18 2011 13:16 GMT

#31

I am skeptical that this will work. The mammoth were from a very long time ago, and consequently, its DNA is actually poorly preserved (i.e. has a lot of missing parts). I understand they might try to substitute the missing sections with modern elephant DNA - but it seems a bit far-fetched.

Electric.Jesus

Germany755 Posts

January 18 2011 13:20 GMT

#32

I also doubt thtey will succeed, but if they do I will seriously think about taking on a new hooby. Mammoth Polo, here I come!

hifriend

China7935 Posts

January 18 2011 13:31 GMT

#33

On January 18 2011 22:16 Sufficiency wrote:
I am skeptical that this will work. The mammoth were from a very long time ago, and consequently, its DNA is actually poorly preserved (i.e. has a lot of missing parts). I understand they might try to substitute the missing sections with modern elephant DNA - but it seems a bit far-fetched.

It probably won't, but what makes it at least somewhat promising is that they have performed the same thing on a mouse preserved in similar simulated conditions.

On January 18 2011 22:12 anatem wrote:
good luck to them in this completely retardedly futile endeavor.

elephants are fast becoming obsolete, and i'm not saying that because they've been hunted to the brink of extinction, but because situations where tigers or lions effectively hunt adult male elephants are becoming more and more common. if this isn't nature's way of saying "your time is up", i don't know what is

now the purpose of a mammoth on earth is what again ? not like you're gonna raise herds like with cows for food. and they might as well clone something else if they want to work on their technology and make some breakthroughs in science instead of headlines in tabloids

Well, you can't know what kind of results that research might yield. Maybe we learn something in an ecological sense or in terms of cloning techniques. Mammoths are interesting because we don't have a clear picture of how they got instinct.

Other seemingly futile endeavours:

Colombus navigating shortcuts to india
Visiting the moon
Nuclear fission

etcetc.

Funny how whenever there's a thread about some random scientific undertaking, there are always people seemingly pissed off at the fact that we're studying our surroundings rather than solving world hunger or whatever. But it's not like we could have known 200 years ago that intense studying of microbes would eventually lead to certain practical uses such as vaccines etc.

Scaipax

Netherlands54 Posts

January 18 2011 13:38 GMT

#34

What's the point?
It's all kewl and stuff, but what's the point?

XsebT

Denmark2980 Posts

January 18 2011 13:43 GMT

#35

Fuck mammoths! I wonna see real Oliphants with savages on them!

Not sure how to feel about this, but mainly I just think it's cool that we can even do this.

Fa1nT

United States3423 Posts

January 18 2011 13:45 GMT

#36

On January 18 2011 22:38 Scaipax wrote:
What's the point?
It's all kewl and stuff, but what's the point?

Progress in the field of cloning?

Setting up a working method to prevent future extinction?

Proof that humans are now capable of creating life that no longer exists, something a large majority o earth believes only deities can do?

Yukidasu

Australia125 Posts

January 18 2011 13:45 GMT

#37

On January 18 2011 22:15 KwarK wrote:
Tasmania doesn't have so much permafrost.

We may not have permafrost but I think we do have a much younger specimen preserved by mankind. Not sure how it's going though.

In any case, a mammoth is much cooler.

HeIios

Sweden2523 Posts

January 18 2011 13:49 GMT

#38

On January 18 2011 22:38 Scaipax wrote:
What's the point?
It's all kewl and stuff, but what's the point?

I actually think their mission statement as to the reason for undertaking this project was: "it's all kewl and stuff"
The people in charge needed no more convincing words than that, needless to say their funding was approved of immediately.

bubO

United States367 Posts

January 18 2011 13:50 GMT

#39

well sounds like a great idea....xD