What if we could bring back animals that are extinct to life, like in Jurassic Park? Well scientists think it may be possible to bring some animals back to life because of new DNA technologies.
DNA only lasts about 60,000 years so an animal we wanted to bring back would have to have lived no earlier than that (unfortunately Dinosaurs are much older). Scientists have started to look at the Wooly Mammoth, which died off about 10,000 years ago. Fossil finds of the Wooly Mammoth have produced hair, which can provide DNA segments that can be sequenced by the newest machines.
The problem is that scientists at this point cannot totally create new DNA from data about the sequence. What may be possible is to look at differences between the mammoth DNA and the DNA of its closest living relative, the African Elephant. There are about 400,000 differences between the elephant and mammoth genome. New technology may be available soon that could take an elephant’s DNA and just replace the 400,000 sections that need modification, place that DNA in an elephant egg and implant it into a female elephant. The female elephant would be pregnant and then give birth to the first mammoth to live since the last one died about 10,000 years ago.
There are still some hurdles to overcome though so don’t expect to see a Wooly Mammoth at your local Zoo anytime too soon.
The Full Article from the New York Times…
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