The Wild Plan to Bring Back Woolly Mammoths

Woolly Mammoths could soon make a comeback. A new company is on a mission to create a mammoth-elephant hybrid, and their reason might surprise you.

What if I told you that there’s a plan to bring back wooly mammoths back to Siberia? Wild right?!? And if resurrecting a 6-ton creature that’s been extinct for about 4,000 years isn’t crazy enough, wait till you hear this…they’re hoping to enlist these shaggy creatures to help us solve a mammoth-sized problem.

Mammoths were great ecosystem engineers. They knocked down trees and shrubs, making room for light colored grasses that reflected more sunlight than the darker trees, keeping ground temperatures cooler.

In the winter, they trampled through the snow, exposing the ground to the arctic chill. By maintaining their grassland home, they also protected a perpetually-frozen layer of carbon-rich soil underneath, called permafrost. By the end of the last Ice Age though, most of the mammoths vanished, and the grasses of the steppe did too.

We don’t know whether to point the finger at humans, climate, or some other cause, but what we do know is that the ecosystem changed significantly.

#geneticengineering #crispr #cas9 #woollymammoths #Seeker #Elements

Read More:
AFTER 10,000 YEARS OF EXTINCTION, THIS IS WHEN WOOLLY MAMMOTHS WILL WALK THE EARTH AGAIN
With starting capital of $15 million and four-to-six years of research, Lamm tells Inverse the company could produce a “herd” of woolly mammoths calves for the first time since the Ice Age. This means the first baby mammoths could roam the tundra by 2027 or earlier.

Woolly mammoth resurrection project receives $15 million boost
This bold plan is fraught with ethical issues. Some scientists question if we know enough to make such an attempt -- and the larger point of such an undertaking. But the thought of being up close with a once-extinct creature is a tantalizing one.

Scientists Say They Could Bring Back Woolly Mammoths. But Maybe They Shouldn't
"If you can create a mammoth or at least an elephant that looks like a good copy of a mammoth that could survive in Siberia, you could do quite a bit for the white rhino or the giant panda," he tells NPR.

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[adamfurtaw]

This isn't about bringing back the mammoth. They're talking about creating a new animal, using DNA from two separate species. I, for one, look forward to our new Mammophant overlords.

[Creative_Expression]

She did that whole video and never mentioned Jurassic Park the whole time!

[Master_Therion]

Here's an easier solution:
Step 1: Take a normal elephant.
Step 2: Glue a fur coat onto it.
Step 3: ????
Step 4: Profit.

[O-Heyguys]

Your scientist were so preoccupied with whether or not they could they didn’t stop to think if they *SHOULD*

[abh]

I say we should focus on protecting the endangered species rather than resurrecting the extinct

[keith]

i wanna see a sabertooth tiger as well

[alexhandsome]

Why do I get the feeling that this is the start to Jurassic Park 🤔

[y.a.]

Video about bringing back Woolly Mammoth -
Start of video - No scarf
Mid Video - Gains a suspicious woolly scarf
okay...? for what purpose are you bringing them back for ?

[delvesdg]

“Oh, yeah. Oooh, ahhh, that’s how it always starts. Then later there’s running and screaming.” - Dr. Ian Malcom

[Yoarashi]

From what I understand, elephants are pretty dependent on survival skills that are passed down from generation to generation. The mammoth may perhaps not be as dependent on these learned behaviors, and the significantly different environment could be an alleviating factor too, but I do wonder how they plan to tackle that part of this whole project. Who or what will raise the first mammoth?

[oskareriksson]

Am I the only one getting major Jurassic Park vibes from this? From the music choice (reminiscent of the great John Williams) to the infographic segment that looks like a straight out homage to the animated "Mr.DNA" segment in the 1993 movie?

I doubt it's a coincidence, so I'll say - Nice touch, Seeker.

[Ozzshow]

A lot of measured, cautious yet optimistic responses here. I will be sure to let the team know that they have your guys tentative approval. The mammoth will only return with your valuable opinions shining the way.

[Kadath_Gaming]

Sounds like a chimeric nightmare, and I'm an ice age specialist. This is utterly insane and should never be attempted. I honestly hope this research is a total failure

[xenos_n.]

I haven't watched Seeker in forever until I got a notice that Seeker+ is back and I was like "oh yeah, they were Dnews, I loved that channel". It's probably just me, but that name change affected my watching habits.

[khaucan]

I personally think that this project's aim is too big with a lot of new technology breakthrough needed. But of course if they can make it happen this will be a turn in human's history

[duckwhistle]

We should probably try and improve the population of existing pachyderms, before introducing more.

[ominous-omnipresent-they]

If we possess the technological capacity to produce a genetically sufficient mammoth clone, then yes, we should do it. I hardly see what this has to do with our imagined human ethics.

[leepemberton]

Resurrected mammoth: Wow I'm so happy to be back on planet earth

Planet earth: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🌊 🌊 🌊

[KINGBADASS]

Surely the better way to stop the thawing of permafrost is to just stop emitting so much greenhouse gases?

[ashwin]

If this succeeds it will be awesome, but then people are gonna take it too a whole other level 😂