40 votes

Scientists have bred "Woolly Mice" on their journey to bring back the mammoth

15 comments

  1. [3]
    TheD00d
    Link
    This is not the most meaningful comment, but I clicked the link hoping to see a woolly mouse and I was not disappointed. Those mice are adorable. Getting super saiyan-hair vibes.

    This is not the most meaningful comment, but I clicked the link hoping to see a woolly mouse and I was not disappointed. Those mice are adorable. Getting super saiyan-hair vibes.

    34 votes
    1. hamstergeddon
      Link Parent
      I'm torn between an immense desire to have an adorable woolly mouse for a pet and knowing that the pet sale industry is already gross enough without introducing genetically modified animals to it.

      I'm torn between an immense desire to have an adorable woolly mouse for a pet and knowing that the pet sale industry is already gross enough without introducing genetically modified animals to it.

      19 votes
    2. chocobean
      Link Parent
      thanks for making the comment because I concur, they're super adorable. The article did say though, that the wooly mammoth's fur is coarse....disappointingly, the article did not mention if the...

      thanks for making the comment because I concur, they're super adorable.

      The article did say though, that the wooly mammoth's fur is coarse....disappointingly, the article did not mention if the mice's fur is soft plushy or pokey wiry.

      I'm so conflicted between feeling sad about animal testing and lab animals, and the hope for reviving our rapidly going extinct species. If this works, and if we could bank enough DNA samples of each, it would make the pending climate collapse a lot more tolerable for me personally.

      10 votes
  2. [8]
    snake_case
    Link
    I thought we gave up on this, the professors when I was in college were like “if someone did manage to do this, where would we put them? They’d be an invasive species everywhere”

    I thought we gave up on this, the professors when I was in college were like “if someone did manage to do this, where would we put them? They’d be an invasive species everywhere”

    13 votes
    1. [2]
      nocut12
      Link Parent
      Maybe here? I don't know enough about ecology or whatever to know if it's as silly as it seems or not, but it is pretty fun to read about...

      Maybe here? I don't know enough about ecology or whatever to know if it's as silly as it seems or not, but it is pretty fun to read about...

      7 votes
      1. snake_case
        Link Parent
        Lol thats like climate change on crack

        Lol thats like climate change on crack

        1 vote
    2. [4]
      Carrie
      Link Parent
      It’s possible this is the “gateway drug,” so to speak towards designer babies or other genome engineering projects. Proof of concept/biology projects like this often don’t complete their original...

      It’s possible this is the “gateway drug,” so to speak towards designer babies or other genome engineering projects.

      Proof of concept/biology projects like this often don’t complete their original huge goal (make a mammoth), but show that a lot of things are possible.

      6 votes
      1. [3]
        snake_case
        Link Parent
        My first thought is that we can use old genomes to re-introduce new variety into the genomes of species experiencing a population bottleneck

        My first thought is that we can use old genomes to re-introduce new variety into the genomes of species experiencing a population bottleneck

        3 votes
        1. [2]
          Carrie
          Link Parent
          That’s an interesting idea I had not thought of. I do wish they wouldn’t use the marketing speak of “de-extinction,” because it makes it sound like you just “undo” the extinction and I feel like...

          That’s an interesting idea I had not thought of.

          I do wish they wouldn’t use the marketing speak of “de-extinction,” because it makes it sound like you just “undo” the extinction and I feel like many people will use this idea do act with carte blanche with regards to species preservation.

          Do you know if genome engineering has already been used in this capacity ? Because while CRISPR is new and interesting, we’ve had genome engineering technology for quite some time now.

          1 vote
          1. snake_case
            Link Parent
            I’m not the most up to date, but to my knowledge all we can do is insert specific genes in specific places. That would create variety, eventually, if we did that and then left a population to...

            I’m not the most up to date, but to my knowledge all we can do is insert specific genes in specific places.

            That would create variety, eventually, if we did that and then left a population to manage itself, but in practice we mostly use it to improve the resilience of cash crops like corn, a practice which aims to entirely replace wild type genes with one single “superior” gene, lowering the actual genetic diversity of the species.

            So I guess while my idea sounds great and could be done, theres no money in it so whats probably going to happen is we end up with a new race of genetically similar pets to profit off of.

            1 vote
    3. tanglisha
      Link Parent
      Jurassic Park: Extreme north

      Jurassic Park: Extreme north

      5 votes
  3. [2]
    patience_limited
    Link
    There's a case to be made for reviving passenger pigeons, too. Even assuming successful genetic reconstruction, as /u/snake_case pointed out, the environment has changed drastically since these...

    There's a case to be made for reviving passenger pigeons, too. Even assuming successful genetic reconstruction, as /u/snake_case pointed out, the environment has changed drastically since these species became extinct. There's no current habitat comparable to the conditions these animals existed in, and they'd now likely be invasive competitors to other established species or pests to humans.

    10 votes
    1. snake_case
      Link Parent
      Carolina parrot as well, although if I recall that one is more difficult cause they don’t have the exact dna they’ve got to make some assumptions based on the most closely related species

      Carolina parrot as well, although if I recall that one is more difficult cause they don’t have the exact dna they’ve got to make some assumptions based on the most closely related species

      3 votes
  4. Fiachra
    Link
    ☑ Wooly ☐ Mammoth Okay cool, we're half way there.

    ☑ Wooly
    ☐ Mammoth

    Okay cool, we're half way there.

    10 votes