Why We Can't Clone Wooly Mammoths in 2 Years

+++
A scientists says he'll make a wooly mammoth in two years! No he won't.

+++

ABOUT: Rebecca Watson is the founder of the Skepchick Network, a collection of sites focused on science and critical thinking. She has written for outlets such as Slate, Popular Science, and the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. She's also the host of Quizotron, a rowdy, live quiz show that pits scientists against comedians. Asteroid 153289 Rebeccawatson is named after her (her real name being 153289).

+++

[Cncrdance]

John Hawks does a really amazing job of summarizing what is wrong with Church's claims. As he points out, it's not that Church can only edit 45 elephant genes; it's that editing thousands is much more likely to produce a lethality without understanding why.

[micksp]

If they are going to bring back something, bring back something useful like unicorns. :)

[Ekergaard]

I have also read it should be unethical to impregnate so many elephants with mammuth fetus. Much can go wrong and create suffering for the elephants . So we have to wait until we have artificial uterus, if you do not want to hurt elephants.

[snowmystique]

Sweaterphants > Wolly Mammoths

Fight me.

[melo]

I was really looking forward to this, to balance things out we should bring back saber tooth tigers.

[obamos]

This woman don't want these mammoths don't wanna be back to extinction

[micronoid]

You should look into to copy writing the word 'mammothy'.

[edfoster]

love ya Rebecca and glad you're still out here looking into things I don't care about.

[AccordingRobyn]

Just cut the horns off a bantha. Problem solved.

[JediBearBob]

The continued failure of Wooly Mammoths to become un-extinct makes me sad.

[SleepNeed]

At least I can still eat dinosaurs. Delicious dinosaurs...

[funkyfreshanalog]

oh just checking still a smegg head X) keep on the good work

[Bill_Garthright]

Damn! Isn't there _something_ nice we can get in the next four years? Even if we impeach President Trump, we're going to be left with President Pence, which would not be any kind of improvement.

Little jetpack-wearing woolly mammoths would have been _something_ to look forward to in the Fourth Reich. I'm so sad...

[renanSRSC]

I have to admit i saw the intro many times, hahaha....

[MichaelKerr]

It reminds me of what that Loverboy song says: "Pig and elephant DNA just won't splice".

[briannamtar]

Dammit, some people enjoy speculative science fiction over dispair. 😐