US and Korea in a race to recreate the mammoth!

[Techno-Druid]

You're jumping between topics and mixing up responses to separate points. I didn't say mammoths shouldn't exist. I said that developing entirely new species and releasing them into the wild is a really fucking terrible idea. I also said that I'm not convinced that bringing back mammoths or reintroducing any animal (or plant) to an area that they haven't existed for thousands to millions of years is a good idea either. There are literally hundreds of examples of why this could be the case.

Those are animals and plants that exist in the modern world. Who the hell knows what would happen if we start adding extinct species to modern ecosystems. Say for example we bring back mammoths and it leads to the decline of reindeer? Happy days?

But mammoths and reindeer co-evolved and occupy entirely different ecological roles. In fact the primary reason for recreating the mammoth besides advancing science would be for the mammoth to continue its ecological role in turning much of Siberia's boreal forests and tundras into grassland that stimulates the growth of reindeer, bison, horses, saiga antelope, moose, etc.

[Bigbazz]

Manipulating genes in beings that haven't yet been born is completely pointless. Why? Because it does nothing to help me. I'll still stop existing. From my point of view, the entire world stops existing. The entire Universe never existed. The concept of existing never existed. The concept of a concept never existed.

I'd be much more interested in how genes can be manipulated in us, who already do exist. Switch on my youth genes, please.

As much as I'd love to switch on the 25-30year old self for the rest of my life, I think we'd have a pretty messed up population issue with the massively increased average life span...

[Kaleredar]

But mammoths and reindeer co-evolved and occupy entirely different ecological roles. In fact the primary reason for recreating the mammoth besides advancing science would be for the mammoth to continue its ecological role in turning much of Siberia's boreal forests and tundras into grassland that stimulates the growth of reindeer, bison, horses, saiga antelope, moose, etc.

The animals that currently live in Siberia have done so for thousands of years without the existence of mammoths- tens of thousands of years, in some regions. Many of the species they existed alongside the mammoth, like woolly rhinoceros, cave lions, and many others that defined that ecosystem no longer exist in any capacity. The animals that have survived have changed to adapt to the modern region without the mammoth and have done so for thousands of years over thousands of generations.

The ecosystem required to sustain mammoths vanished, and that's why they vanished- not just simple over hunting on the part of humans. So not only would they be incredibly disruptive to any system they were in, they'd also not even be adapted to exist in that system for any length of time.


Breeding them as some novelty for a zoo? Maybe. But sticking them back into the wild? Not a good idea.

[Techno-Druid]

The animals that currently live in Siberia have done so for thousands of years without the existence of mammoths- tens of thousands of years, in some regions. Many of the species they existed alongside the mammoth, like woolly rhinoceros, cave lions, and many others that defined that ecosystem no longer exist in any capacity. The animals that have survived have changed to adapt to the modern region without the mammoth and have done so for thousands of years over thousands of generations.

The ecosystem required to sustain mammoths vanished, and that's why they vanished- not just simple over hunting on the part of humans. So not only would they be incredibly disruptive to any system they were in, they'd also not even be adapted to exist in that system for any length of time.


Breeding them as some novelty for a zoo? Maybe. But sticking them back into the wild? Not a good idea.

There's no harm in experimentation, mammoths are large, being elephants and all and could easily be removed if shown to have a negative environmental impact.

The pronghorn gazelle hasn't evolved to become slow yet, despite it's predator, the American cheetah, being extinct for ~12,000 years. In fact many species that went extinct in an area have already been unintentionally reintroduced to those areas with little or positive effects on the greater ecosystem. The Romans reintroduced fallow deer to Europe from the Middle East and are now widely considered to be European fauna. Mustang horses and burros serve as an ecological proxy for their close relatives that went extinct at the end of the Pleistocene and readily fill the same niches that their wild cousins used to occupy. The only issues come from the absence of predators in the regions that horses occupy: wolves, bears and cougar.

[Macaquerie]

[Thoughtcrime]

But mammoths and reindeer co-evolved and occupy entirely different ecological roles. In fact the primary reason for recreating the mammoth besides advancing science would be for the mammoth to continue its ecological role in turning much of Siberia's boreal forests and tundras into grassland that stimulates the growth of reindeer, bison, horses, saiga antelope, moose, etc.

That was just an example. The point being that the effects are unknowable.

[Gravity2015]

Good.

My fantasy of a giant Flintstones style slab of ribs is getting closer and closer.

LOL yes sir, sign me up

[Vivapin8]

As much as I'd love to switch on the 25-30year old self for the rest of my life, I think we'd have a pretty messed up population issue with the massively increased average life span...

Why we only would need to introduce laws, like only 1 child every 10-20 years, also population is no real issue if you coincider that 50% of the produced food is thrown in the trash...and space colonization is going to become the real deal in the near future (at last our solar systema)

[Powerogue]

I'd consider myself in luck if there was cure to aging. He's the age where he can drop dead any year or month now, so no dinosaurs

That is on the table. All the things that cause our body to slowly deteriorate are in that same code. But we will be the ones holding the giant pencil!

[Bigbazz]

Why we only would need to introduce laws, like only 1 child every 10-20 years, also population is no real issue if you coincider that 50% of the produced food is thrown in the trash...and space colonization is going to become the real deal in the near future (at last our solar systema)

Food waste is a reality that we have to overcome though, and we haven't. And space colonization isn't going to happen our lifetime, nor our childrens.

[IIamaKing]

Humans likely attributed to the extinction of the woolly mammoth.

Massive glacial melt from an asteroid impact some 13000 years ago had a much bigger impact on the mammoths than humans did.

[Techno-Druid]

That was just an example. The point being that the effects are unknowable.

We know quite a lot about mammoths from their remains and even more from studying elephants. We likely know what ecological effects they would have on the Siberian wilderness and what niche they would fill.

Not that mammoth are specifically needed for those climatologists and ecologists (and a few geneticists like George Church and Beth Shapiro) who wish to restore at least a large portion of the Mammoth steppe ecosystem.

[Afrospinach]

Good.

My fantasy of a giant Flintstones style slab of ribs is getting closer and closer.

Eh, it would probably be very stringy like elephant. What you want is some saber tooth water cow(hippo).

[Pony Soldier]

Knowing how we are we'll recreate mammoths just so we can hunt them for their fur, tusks, and meat. Then they go extinct again.

[Themerlin]

http://www.newsweek.com/us-korea-sea...t-beast-686311



I would love to see a herd of mammoth or mammoth-like elephants roaming the tundras of Siberia.

Actually Russia has been at this for over a year already. They plan to use them to retain permafrost in the Siberian regions, in order to diminish the methane release due to global warming. Also to retain the perma-frost landmass from collapsing. Herd animals have been doing this for thousands of years in the Siberian tundra.

[Techno-Druid]

Actually Russia has been at this for over a year already. They plan to use them to retain permafrost in the Siberian regions, in order to diminish the methane release due to global warming. Also to retain the perma-frost landmass from collapsing. Herd animals have been doing this for thousands of years in the Siberian tundra.

Best of luck to them, poaching has drastically decreased the amount of biodiversity in the region, so bringing back large herd animals will only increase the biodiversity of that region.