So, first of all, when people think of this, most of the time it's the idea of bringing back mammoths, or dinosaurs, or something big and amazing from earth's history. But, really, there are a few other things to consider: many species have been driven extinct by human actions and bringing them back may aid in restoring the ecology of places that now no longer have a species that was necessary to fill whatever niche the extinct species filled. This has always struck me as a something that would be really amazing to do, as maybe we could help repair some of the damage humans have done to the natural world.
But, of course, that's not what most people think about :) Many would love to see a T-Rex in person (so long as they wouldn't be eaten!), and there are other cool things that would be awe inspiring. Here's the thing: with our current technology, we don't have access to the DNA from dinosaurs. Yep, even if it's stuck in amber. See, DNA degrades with time, just like the rest of our body. So the longer it's been since the organism was alive, the less "good" DNA that we can read is around. This makes any sort of ability to make say, a T-Rex, really hard.
There are other species, like mammoths, where we do have pretty decent DNA, as there have been nearly whole individuals locked in the permafrost and recently found. From these, though, we still have the issue of their DNA being degraded. It's like having a huge puzzle of billions of little pieces (the basepairs of A, T, C, & G that make up all our genomes) that have been broken into tiny pieces. Making sure all the pieces are there, and put back together in the right way, is not so easy. In reality, we don't have 100% of any mammoths genome to date, as there are always a few missing pieces.

The other way this could be done would be to build the genome from scratch. This is a huge undertaking--billions of basepairs all linked together in the way that a mammoth's would be--but not too impossible in the near future. Again, so long as we have a good copy of the original.
Direct cloning will never work for any of these species. That's because, in order to do so, one needs an intact and healthy cell nucleus to transfer into another cell (and egg that has had its own nucleus removed), in order to have the cell start using the genome to build a body. No really old and dead species has an nucleus/genome intact enough to do this, as, again, they degrade after death.

But, say this all works out. A mamma elephant has a baby mammoth. Then what? How ethical is it to have a single member of a long gone species hanging around, especially if that species is known to have been highly social? Where does this individual live, when it no longer has the vast frozen tundra to wander? Honestly, it makes me kind of sad to think about what this poor individual might have to endure.
Anyhow, this is all to say, that cloning of extinct species is possible. Maybe. Easy? Definitely not. Worth it? Maybe, as we could potentially help in bringing back, say, extinct species of Galapagos tortoises or Carrier Pigeons. But if you're really hoping for a pet Velociraptor sometime, it's probably (a) not happening anytime soon, (b) maybe not the most ethical of things to do, and (c) a good way to get eaten ;)
*puts the baby velociraptor back in the box* If we could clone dinosaurs, we should probably start with the herbivores. Less likely to get eaten. LOL! I do think we should focus on recently extinct animals. There may soon come a time when we need them.
ReplyDeleteI think it's best to not go down that path.
ReplyDeleteSuch an interesting post. I have always been curious why people would want dinosaurs brought back to life in modern times. They are fascinating to learn about- but after the first Jurassic Park movie I could see a lot of problems with t-rexes roaming around among us. The mammoth would be sad without friends. An interesting topic to think about for sure.
ReplyDelete~Jess
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete