Scientists say they're close to resurrecting the woolly mammoth. The plans involve inserting genes for iconic woolly mammoth traits, like shaggy coats and curly tusks, into the genome of an elephant, and growing the creature in an elephant surrogate. (Image credit: Images by Vac1 and WLADIMIR BULGAR Getty Images; Collage by Marilyn Perkins)
LiveScience has news that the de-extinction of the Woolly mammoth is nearing reality. Colossal Biosciences, a Texas-based biotechnology and genetic engineering company, is working to bring the dodo (Raphus cucullatus), the Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus; also known as the thylacine) and the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) back from extinction. The question of can has morphed into the question of should. Should be bring back these animals or will it lead to an unexpected and tragic outcome?
For about seven minutes in 2003, scientists reversed extinction.
The resurrected lineage was the Pyrenean ibex (Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica), and the last known member of the subspecies, a female named Celia, had died three years earlier.
Although that effort failed to produce a healthy animal, "de-extinction" science has advanced dramatically in the past two decades. Technology is no longer a significant hurdle to reviving recently extinct species, and in many cases, we have enough DNA to piece together functional genomes for cloning. The question isn't so much whether we can resurrect lost species but if we should.
