While the technology may be rather far off, the foundation for the technology exists today. Governments are pouring massive funds into the Human Genome Project. If we complete it, it may open previously unseen doors of DNA knowledge. We may even be able to replicate and record the genetic codes of extinct species from fossilization, or, in the future, mosquitoes frozen in amber.
In my humble opinion, while this is an appealing new path for genetic science, is it really the right choice to bring back species killed off by natural selection? When the woolly mammoths flourished in the Arctic, they would knock over trees, allowing Arctic grasses to prosper. When the woolly mammoths died off, the trees reflected sunlight from the ground, cooling it. Obviously, the Arctic is cold and uninhabitable due to the theories of Charles Darwin himself. Who are we to bring back extinct species and disrupt the balance of the living and nonliving on earth?
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/science/earth/research-to-bring-back-extinct-frog-points-to-new-path-and-quandaries.html?ref=dnadeoxyribonucleicacid&_r=1&
http://jstueart.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/woolly_mammoth_siberian_tundra.jpg
Good job on your article Sean! While the discovery of bringing back extinct species is exciting, I agree that it would set an imbalance in the modern world. Species like woolly mammoths and saber tooth tigers became extinct for a reason, because they could not adapt to the changes of the earth. Animals and plants that thrived in cold habitats such as the artic would not be able to adapt quickly enough to the modern world if they were brought back to life. Scientists need to be aware that the earth is not the same as it was millions of years ago, and is constantly changing. Your article was very interesting and i enjoyed reading it!
ReplyDeleteGood article Sean.
ReplyDeleteAlthough this is a mind boggling plan, I don't think it is a good idea. With huge animals such as the woolly mammoth, it sparks threats that could drastically damage the food web. According to what you said, woolly mammoths knocked down trees in the arctic, this would ruin the habitats of thousands of animals living in the trees. If we returned extinct animals, we would be negatively affected and it could possibly cause us to go extinct faster.
I really liked this article, good job! While I think cloning and recreating these species sounds promising, there's a reason they became extinct. It's obvious that the conditions on earth have changed quite a bit since the ice age, which is the time these animals were living. The concept of all this sounds very interesting, but as we see in movies like Jurassic Park, we need the human race living before we need extinct species back. I do agree with Connor as well, it could damage the food web. Although we are fascinated with this prospect of bringing back species that are gone, there's probably a reason it hasn't been done yet besides not having the technology.
ReplyDeleteI really liked reading this article. One thing that I found personally interesting was the bit about the Gastric Brooding frog. I recently read an article and did a blog post on that very same topic. However when I read my article the results of the study had yet to be released. It was very interesting to discover that the cloning of the frog had become somewhat successful. Your article took a similar perspective to mine when you mentioned that the resurrection of an extinct species could “disrupt the balance” in its environment. I obviously agree with this and think that proper precautions need to be taken in order to ensure that resurrection of any species does not drastically alter the food web.
ReplyDeleteI thought this post was interesting for a number of reasons. First, DNA replication is an interesting topic especially when it pertains to the topic of cloning. I believe cloning is the future of farming as it allows us to not only bring back extinct animal species, but extinct plant species as well which could create new sources of food for our planet. Also, the prospect of restoring dinosaurs to this planet is extraordinary. overall, nice post.
ReplyDeleteWhile cloning is a very interesting topic, we should be careful as to what animals we clone. I think we shouldn't clone long extinct animals and release them into the wild. It would be cruel to both them and their environment. animals such as the Wholly mammoth and dinosaurs are not suited to today's environment and will greatly disturb the food web. Instead, we should clone endangered animals, because an increase in their numbers will only help the food web, and not destroy it.
ReplyDeleteWhile cloning is a very interesting topic, we should be careful as to what animals we clone. I think we shouldn't clone long extinct animals and release them into the wild. It would be cruel to both them and their environment. animals such as the Wholly mammoth and dinosaurs are not suited to today's environment and will greatly disturb the food web. Instead, we should clone endangered animals, because an increase in their numbers will only help the food web, and not destroy it.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how people would be willing to risk things to bring back extinct animals. Although it would be cool seeing these animals, we need to realize that these creatures are fit to survive in the climate we are living in. It would sad to see an animal brought back to life just to die from unfit living conditions.
ReplyDeleteI have found that the topic of DNA de-extinction has been a very popular topic on the blog. I wrote an article on it back in the middle of March and since then a third of articles posted have been about the de-extinction of organism using DNA. This has certainly helped to broaden my understanding of the topic and has allowed me to see different perspectives. I find it interesting that your article is the first to take a cynical approach on the topic. I believe this is to blame on media. It is far easier to attract attention with a headline like “Extinct Species is Being Brought Back to Life” than “De-Extinct of Species, Don’t Count on it”. I believe that your article’s view is a more realistic one but as several other comments say, the idea is not something that should be abandoned or that has not use. The de- extinct of a species has many possibilities. For example the article I posted talks about the resurrection of a frog that has been extinct for 30 years, it may not be extremely hard to reintroduce the frog to its environment. In my article I do say reintroducing the frog is a problem but it is one that I am confident can be overcome. This idea of de-extinction has a long way to go but considering the leaps in science over the past century I doubt the solutions are very far off.
ReplyDeleteNice post. I like your part on the ethics of bringing back extinct animals, and I agree. If we are bringing back things like mammoths, we're bringing them back so that we can either study them or show them off in zoos, reminiscent of Jurassic Park . We're never going to release them into the wild, and even if they do, where would they go? They went extinct for a reason, and I don't think that we should clone them if they are going to live in unnatural conditions for the rest of their lives, bred in captivity. Sure, the idea of it is interesting, but doing this would cost large sums of money which, in my opinion, could be spent researching more worthwhile causes.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Sean.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this article because it shows the advancement of human technology over the years. I agree with you that bringing back selected creatures would be unhealthy for the environment and would cause instability throughout the ecosystem. I am interested though and returning them to the world for studies and other research studies. My question though is it worth all the time and money to execute these studies?
This is a very interesting concept, and the bringing back of extinct species would be pretty cool, but I agree with your questioning of whether or not we should follow through with this. Besides the fact that bringing the species may be detrimental for an ecosystem that they might be returned to, (if scientists ever to decide to release these animals back into wild ecosystems it would be more practical to invest more money into research that is more necessary, like cures for deadly diseases.
ReplyDeleteI found this to be a very interesting topic, especially with cloning, being an interesting topic concerning DNA replication. Bringing back extinct animals could very well help our Earth. With agriculture, new animals and plants could help us in many ways. Nice post.
ReplyDelete