Perhaps I was the only one, but I sat through each Jurassic Park movie wishing they were true. Not because I had a death wish, but because I thought the whole idea was awesome. Of course, in my fantasies, I was always Alan Grant (the surviving hero) and not Donald Gennaro (the T-Rex snack sitting on the toilet). But that is beside the point.

While we might not yet be able to bring Velociraptors back from extinction, CNET is reporting that scientists have nearly completed the sequencing of the wooly mammoth genome, and we might see them roaming the tundra soon.

Needless to say, when subjects like cloning are discussed, a whole slew of ethical questions get asked. In the below video, evolutionary geneticist, Hendrik Poinar states:

“Can we do it? I think in the future it is sort of inevitable that someone will be able to do it, and we will do it. The bigger question is should we do it.”

According to one Harvard group of scientists, the mammoths could be brought back to covert the northern tundra back into grasslands. By doing so, climate change would slow by insulating the permafrost. Here is a PDF explaining their position.

Perhaps an even better use would be their inclusion in the petting zoo at Ken Ham’s Creation Museum. The boys could ride around on them, and the girls can try them out as vacuum cleaners.

Brother Richard

What do you think?: Post a Comment

Subscribe to Richard’s: All New RSS Feed