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Woolly mammoth DNA may lead to a resurrection of the ancient beast
- beloch 13y agoThe (likely) reason for the Mammoth's extinction and the best reason for bringing them back is one and the same: They're #$%^ing tasty. Think about it. What would make a human being armed with sharp sticks and big rocks go up against something the size of a large, monumentally pissed off elephant? Our ancestors hunted these critters to death when there were cow-ancestors, buffalo, and deer available. That says something! So why is this a reason for bringing them back? About a day after the first mammoth is brought back from extinction Chinese restaurants (the kind that proudly serve up Snow Tiger, Sea Snake, and Dolphin) are going to be offering tens of thousands of dollars per pound for mammoth meat. The first lab that successfully clones a Mammoth will be able to fund itself for a decade on the first mature animal they slaughter, even if they don't. It sounds savage, I know, but this guarantees that the species will actually come back in numbers and for good instead of being a temporary curiosity the way cloned sheep were. (Dolly is very, very dead.) Within a very short time mammoths will be farmed for meat. Zoos will, of course, likely get the first specimens, but commercial farming for meat will follow shortly after... unless they aren't actually very tasty. We hunted giant camels to death too, and I don't see many people eating camel these days.
- warcode 13y agoI think it depends on the reason why they were tasty. If it was based on what they ate themselves, we might not have that available, and end up with a sub-par product. Then again if they are inherently delicious, with the recent advancements around In Vitro meat, we might get fantastic mammoth meat forever.