The Lemon Fool

The Woolly Mammoth might be back from extinction (or at least an Elephant-mammoth hybrid) in six years time.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/sep/13/firm-bring-back-woolly-mammoth-from-extinction

Firm raises $15m to bring back woolly mammoth from extinction

Scientists set initial sights on creating elephant-mammoth hybrid, with first calves expected in six years
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Ten thousand years after woolly mammoths vanished from the face of the Earth, scientists are embarking on an ambitious project to bring the beasts back to the Arctic tundra.

The prospect of recreating mammoths and returning them to the wild has been discussed – seriously at times – for more than a decade, but on Monday researchers announced fresh funding they believe could make their dream a reality.

The boost comes in the form of $15m (£11m) raised by the bioscience and genetics company Colossal, co-founded by Ben Lamm, a tech and software entrepreneur, and George Church, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School who has pioneered new approaches to gene editing.

Hmmm ... I've been hearing about this idea (along with the similar resurrection of the Moa; lots of fairly recent bones available) for far more than a decade. Has a twinge of fusion power about it ... is N years away, and always has been.

mc2fool wrote:Hmmm ... I've been hearing about this idea (along with the similar resurrection of the Moa; lots of fairly recent bones available) for far more than a decade. Has a twinge of fusion power about it ... is N years away, and always has been.

The idea has been around for ages probably even prior to Jurassic park but this is the first time I've heard of any timescale in the near future.

S’alright. There won’t be any tundra left by then.

What's this going to do to the sale of "ethical ivory" guitar picks?

- sd

Maybe the same technology can be used to bring back the Neanderthals. Given the shortage of staff, it would benefit both science and the economy.

We'd never have a shortage of shop assistants, and visitors to Currys and Dixon probably wouldn't even notice.


Steve

stevensfo wrote:Maybe the same technology can be used to bring back the Neanderthals. Given the shortage of staff, it would benefit both science and the economy.

We'd never have a shortage of shop assistants, and visitors to Currys and Dixon probably wouldn't even notice.


Steve

The old image of the Neaderthal as primitive cavemen has been superceded by modern discoveries and it is likely that Neaderthals were both culturally and mentally pretty much as advanced as the Homo Sapiens of the time. There are physical differences but it has long been recognised that if you took a Neaderthal and dressed him in modern clothes and shaved him he wouldn't really stand out.

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/who-were-the-neanderthals.html

QI - How would you spot a Neaderthal on a bus ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yndWjb7Zqo