Scientists find mammoth cell fit for cloning

Vladivostock News ^ | February 6, 2003

[Lessismore]

Scientists from the Novosibirsk center of virology and biotechnology 'Vector' discovered a living cell in the remains of a mammoth excavated from the ice, and believe it could be suitable for cloning the Ice Age mammal.

Oleg Taranov, a researcher from the center, arrived in Yakutsk, the capital of the Russian northeastern republic of Yakutia, Tuesday to report the results to his colleagues at the Institute of Applied Ecology of the North.

Last summer a joint team of Russian and Japanese scientists mounted an expedition into Russia's far north with the expressed aim of trying to bring a mammoth back to life. The scientists excavated some parts of a mammoth's leg and used them to extract DNA.

Pyotr Lazarev, a scientist for the Yakutsk institute and the co-chairman of the project said the researchers planned Thursday to take and study thoroughly another sample of the remains kept frozen in Yakutsk's Mammoth Museum.

"If the discovery made by our Novosibirsk colleagues is proved, then bringing mammoths back to life won't be a fantasy any longer," the scientist said.

More information about the mammoth expedition can be found at: http://vn.vladnews.ru/arch/2002/iss324/News/upd14.HTM

[Lysander]

I hope they don't put that guy in a mouse....

[NeonKnight]

Poor animal. He will have to live his entire life in a bubble. There is no way he could survive. His immune system will not be able to cope. viruses, germs and enzymes ain't what they used to be.

[ChemistCat]

They financed their expedition by selling the Brooklyn Bridge, dozens an' dozens of times.....

[Lessismore]

Probably a mouse egg wouldn't be compatible with a mammoth cell nucleus. More likely an Indian or African elephant would be used. Even then, I wonder if the cytoplasm and mitochondria would be a compatible environment.

[and the horse you rode in on]

Poor animal. He will have to live his entire life in a bubble. There is no way he could survive. His immune system will not be able to cope. viruses, germs and enzymes ain't what they used to be.

Immune system training is done by the mother both before birth and thru the clostridium milk. This is being done by replacing the DNA in an elephant's ovum with the mamoth DNA and will be carried to term by the elepant

[PoorMuttly]

Muttly volunteer for Mammoth keeper...as long as he can take rides.

They would make wonderful guards for the Muttly Compound.

[clamper1797]

It's a shame that there wasn't enough room on the Ark for the Mammoth.

[Jewels1091]

What??

[lsee]

As long as they don't find and clone this guy...

[Starrgaizr]

Madonna as host.

[Sawdring]

No, Mammoths died out before Noah finished the Ark. If you remember correctly, all of Noah's exertions caused the global warming which lead to the decrease in the steppe grasses and eventually the extinction of the Mammoths and finally the great flood.

[LiteKeeper]

read later

[zx2dragon]

Awww....I loved that guy! :)

[zx2dragon]

Jurassic Park
Parody of "McArthur Park" (Jimmy Webb)
New Lyrics by Al Yankovic

Lyrics:
I recall the time they found those fossilized mosquitoes
And before long, they were cloning DNA
Now I'm being chased by some irate veloceraptors
Well, believe me... this has been one lousy day

Jurassic Park is frightning in the dark
All the dinosaurs are running wild
Someone shut the fence off in the rain
I admit it's kinda eerie
But this proves my chaos theory
And I don't think I'll be coming back again
On no

I cannot approve of this attraction
'Cause getting disemboweled always makes me kinda mad
A huge tyrannosaurus ate our lawyer
Well, I suppose that proves... they're really not all bad

Check out the rest of the lyrics here.

[tcostell]

I can't wait for them to clone a Mammoth. History would inidcate that they were delicious, after all, we ate all the others.

Any ideas on what might be the right caliber for Mammoth? My first thought is a .375, but it might take one of those Nitro-Express uber-rounds. I guess we'll have to wait and see how skiddish they are and if they'll let you get close or not.

Although for something that size, a flat shooting round might not be the first priority.

[tcostell]

My spelling apologies...

[Lysander]

... My first thought is a .375....

How about rocks and clubs? We have to keep it "fair" you know.

[lsee]

Awww....I loved that guy! :)

I loved him, too, but if he could cause catastrophic avalanches and volcanic eruptions without even meaning to, maybe he'd be better off frozen. LOL! That's got to be one of my new favorite movies.

[clamper1797]

I heard from a creationist thread that the Mammoths and the T-Rex's didn't play well with the unicorns so they were left off the Ark. After all the world is only ... what did he say ... 6000 or some years old ....

(I sold him a bridge right after that)