• Question: are scientists trying to bring back extinct animals?

    • Keywords:
      • Click on a keyword to find out more on the RSC site:
      Asked by anon-287572 on 24 Mar 2021.
      • Photo: Paul O'Nion

        Paul O'Nion answered on 13 Mar 2021:

        I did read an article about a project to bring back the wooly mammoth. They would use Asian elephant DNA. It would never be an exact match. The ethics of this sort of science are widely debated..

      • Photo: Jesko Koehnke

        Jesko Koehnke answered on 13 Mar 2021:

        Yes, we do. Well, not me personally, but others. But we already struggle with a mammoth, so dinosaurs are out of the question;)

      • Photo: Goetz Bucher

        Goetz Bucher answered on 15 Mar 2021:

        Yes, they are. But that’s a tricky business, and they haven’t managed yet.

      • Photo: Martin McCoustra

        Martin McCoustra answered on 15 Mar 2021:

        Some scientists may be trying to preserve the diversity of life on Earth by keeping genetic data for existing species. I have also heard that there were some people trying to bring back the Hairy Mammoth from recovered genetic material using a form of cloning. I’m not sure how far they got.

    Comments