5 ms·

Extinct ibex is resurrected by cloning

38 points by ksvs 18y ago

jraines 18y ago
Sweet. Can we have Jurassic Park now? Why or why not?
- burke 18y ago
  Apparently finding a full intact DNA sample is "impossible"... but here's hoping. :)
  - ericb 18y ago
    What happens if you average over several non-intact samples and take the common denominator? Or layer the DNA over a descendant based on certain markers? Given enough damaged "files" and good diff tools, I feel like hacking together a working one would be possible. Can someone who knows more tell me what I'm missing?
    - ars 18y ago
      DNA is more complicated than that. I don't fully understand the process, but I believe it works like this: You can't read the atoms in DNA one after the other and make a list. You chop the DNA into pieces and pattern match sections (fragments) against markers. Then you try to put fragments together by matching overlaps. But if you have sections that repeat, or have a lot of the same atom over and over, you can't directly read those. Usually when they say: "we published the DNA" they mean the "coding section" - those are the sections that can make proteins. But there is a lot more to DNA, non-coding, or junk DNA that can not be easily (or at all?) read. So for the comment above yours, I think what they have is fragments, but no overlapping sections, so that can't put it together into a whole. It's not like a file with gaps - it's random pieces of it, of random lengths, in a random order.
      - gravitycop 18y ago
        You can't read the atoms in DNA one after the other and make a list. Discrete units of information on DNA strands are not atoms. They are nucleotides or base pairs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleotide http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleotide http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_pair http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_pair
        ars 18y ago
        I know, I was just trying to keep things simple. Or, you can use the other definition of atom: indivisible part, and an atom of DNA is it's smallest building block :)
jackowayed 18y ago
The coincidence between this and Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex being out clearly demonstrates the power of Linux. It's even playing god now! All hail our new Canonical master! Prepare for the Jackalope to become real sometime after April.
zandorg 18y ago
I think you could cross-reference different sources to error-check the incomplete DNA.
asorbus 18y ago
Why didn't they just dist-upgrade a heron?
- cubicle67 18y ago
  That would be an ibis you're thinkng of?
rms 18y ago
Wow, how intrepid.
- Klonoar 18y ago
  Wow, for some reason I thought I could actually be the first to crack that one.
kin 18y ago
This gives me high hopes for the woolly mammoth clone, although the clones seem to live no longer than a day.
vaksel 18y ago
why do people care so much about species going extinct? Millions of species have gone extinct before....millions of species will go extinct again. Its the cycle of life. I mean sure its pretty horrible that a whole species goes extinct...but why does it matter if there are 300 species of goat or 299. For every species that goes extinct, another 2 spring up to take its place. Adapt or die. Why should we coddle the inferior species? Let the nature take its course. Remember, if the dinosaurs didn't go extinct, man wouldn't have survived.
- dmm 18y ago
  Biological diversity is important to the quality of human life. For example many would say that many amphibian species are endangered and nearing extinction. In many areas amphibians are extremely important predators of insects.
- Raphael 18y ago
  It's cool to keep a few around for novelty purposes. Also, if it seems humans are responsible, it is a source of guilt. Although, there is the trend of caring about some species over others, hence campaigns such as "sea kittens".
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
- mattmaroon 18y ago
  Species didn't used to go extinct the way they do now. Also, new ones don't spring up anymore. We've fundamentally destroyed the natural process by drastically altering every single ecosystem out there. The reason to care is that we could, very easily, be left with nothing but rats and pigeons if we don't.
  - gravitycop 18y ago
    The reason to care [about species extinction] is that we could, very easily, be left with nothing but rats and pigeons http://www.juliansimon.com/writings/Ultimate_Resource/TCHAR20.txt http://www.juliansimon.com/writings/Ultimate_Resource/TCHAR2... We ought also consider the species of animals whose numbers are increased when the human population increases - chickens, goats, cattle, minks, dogs, cats, laboratory white mice, and canaries.
davi 18y ago
DNA not the whole story: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics

38 points by ksvs 18y ago

jraines 18y ago

Sweet. Can we have Jurassic Park now? Why or why not?

burke 18y ago
Apparently finding a full intact DNA sample is "impossible"... but here's hoping. :)
- ericb 18y ago
  What happens if you average over several non-intact samples and take the common denominator? Or layer the DNA over a descendant based on certain markers? Given enough damaged "files" and good diff tools, I feel like hacking together a working one would be possible. Can someone who knows more tell me what I'm missing?
  - ars 18y ago
    DNA is more complicated than that. I don't fully understand the process, but I believe it works like this: You can't read the atoms in DNA one after the other and make a list. You chop the DNA into pieces and pattern match sections (fragments) against markers. Then you try to put fragments together by matching overlaps. But if you have sections that repeat, or have a lot of the same atom over and over, you can't directly read those. Usually when they say: "we published the DNA" they mean the "coding section" - those are the sections that can make proteins. But there is a lot more to DNA, non-coding, or junk DNA that can not be easily (or at all?) read. So for the comment above yours, I think what they have is fragments, but no overlapping sections, so that can't put it together into a whole. It's not like a file with gaps - it's random pieces of it, of random lengths, in a random order.
    - gravitycop 18y ago
      You can't read the atoms in DNA one after the other and make a list. Discrete units of information on DNA strands are not atoms. They are nucleotides or base pairs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleotide http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleotide http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_pair http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_pair
      - ars 18y ago
        I know, I was just trying to keep things simple. Or, you can use the other definition of atom: indivisible part, and an atom of DNA is it's smallest building block :)

jackowayed 18y ago

The coincidence between this and Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex being out clearly demonstrates the power of Linux. It's even playing god now! All hail our new Canonical master! Prepare for the Jackalope to become real sometime after April.

zandorg 18y ago

I think you could cross-reference different sources to error-check the incomplete DNA.

asorbus 18y ago

Why didn't they just dist-upgrade a heron?

cubicle67 18y ago
That would be an ibis you're thinkng of?

rms 18y ago

Wow, how intrepid.

Klonoar 18y ago
Wow, for some reason I thought I could actually be the first to crack that one.

kin 18y ago

This gives me high hopes for the woolly mammoth clone, although the clones seem to live no longer than a day.

vaksel 18y ago

why do people care so much about species going extinct? Millions of species have gone extinct before....millions of species will go extinct again. Its the cycle of life. I mean sure its pretty horrible that a whole species goes extinct...but why does it matter if there are 300 species of goat or 299. For every species that goes extinct, another 2 spring up to take its place. Adapt or die. Why should we coddle the inferior species? Let the nature take its course. Remember, if the dinosaurs didn't go extinct, man wouldn't have survived.

dmm 18y ago
Biological diversity is important to the quality of human life. For example many would say that many amphibian species are endangered and nearing extinction. In many areas amphibians are extremely important predators of insects.
Raphael 18y ago
It's cool to keep a few around for novelty purposes. Also, if it seems humans are responsible, it is a source of guilt. Although, there is the trend of caring about some species over others, hence campaigns such as "sea kittens".
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
mattmaroon 18y ago
Species didn't used to go extinct the way they do now. Also, new ones don't spring up anymore. We've fundamentally destroyed the natural process by drastically altering every single ecosystem out there. The reason to care is that we could, very easily, be left with nothing but rats and pigeons if we don't.
- gravitycop 18y ago
  The reason to care [about species extinction] is that we could, very easily, be left with nothing but rats and pigeons http://www.juliansimon.com/writings/Ultimate_Resource/TCHAR20.txt http://www.juliansimon.com/writings/Ultimate_Resource/TCHAR2... We ought also consider the species of animals whose numbers are increased when the human population increases - chickens, goats, cattle, minks, dogs, cats, laboratory white mice, and canaries.

davi 18y ago

DNA not the whole story: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics