Dominating the headlines in both the categories of “Science” and “What the …?” is the news that a $15 million infusion into genetics research might just give us the first wooly mammoths in 10,000 years.
For the record: We’re pretty sure this is how Jurassic Park got started, and that didn’t end well.
While the science and potential behind this research is amazing, we can’t figure out why the researchers chose wooly mammoths — except maybe that they were told they weren’t allowed to start with a T-Rex.
The project has been framed as a way to save the nearly extinct Asian elephant (the mammoth’s closest modern relative) and as a way to possibly preserve the Arctic tundra.
Except that there’s no way to guarantee Asian elephants would want to breed with mammoths (why not just create more Asian elephants?) and for as many experts who think mammoths could help the tundra, there are as many who think the giant creatures could do more harm than good.
We’d have to agree with the latter. While it would be cool (in theory) to have a prehistoric creature walking the earth again, the fact is that the wooly mammoth has no place in our modern ecosystems. Since they have no natural predators (other than humans) and no natural habitat, it’s hard to predict what kind of impact mammoths would have on the environment.
That said, the same scientific research that’s trying to resurrect a long-extinct pachyderm could be used to bring back any number of more-recently extinct wildlife. For example, the northern white rhino was declared (essentially) extinct in 2020; there are only two left — both females.
The science of recreating extinct animals is well worth exploring — but maybe researchers should start with something a little more recent and a lot smaller.
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