According to "Mammoth genome sequence completed" (Ghosh, 2015), scientists have now "sequenced the complete genome of the woolly mammoth," which has led to controversy over whether we should use the knowledge to recreate this species, which has been extinct for 5,000 years.
Although I knew that mammoths had not been extinct for millions of years, unlike dinosaurs, I was surprised that they only died out 5,000 years ago. That isn't so long ago. Next, I wondered whether our human ancestors help to wipe out this species of elephant-like animals. The article doesn't say, and I don't know, but my guess is that our human ancestors then were pretty much as selfish and unworried about other species as we are today, so they probably saw mammoths as large sources of tasty meat.
But the thing that most amazed me in the BBC News article was how much information scientists have been able to get by analysing the genome; for example, they could deduce "that there was a dip in the mammoth population 300,000 years ago" (2014). And since this happened before our ancestors arrived to start killing them off, the scientists guess that it might have been due to climate change, which is not a new phenomenon and not only caused by human activity.
So, should we use technology to de-extinct these majestic creatures from the past? In Jurassic Park, the results were not good.
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I have just know that I am really old since I read your blog post because I think I can remember Jurassic Park, one of my favorite film, very well. According to your last question, In my opinion, it depends on type of animal such as they are herbivore or carnivore.
ReplyDeleteIn this case, I think if the scientist can de-extinct mammoth with the process base on ethic and the results bring the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks, it would be good news.
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