Frozen mammouth unveiled in central Japan (future cloning)

[hue]

Frozen mammoth unveiled in central Japan ahead of Expo 2005

Fri Mar 18, 2:04 AM ET
Science - AFP

NAGAKUTE, Japan (AFP) - A frozen mammoth dug up from the Siberian tundra was unveiled in central Japan in a preview of the six-month World Exposition which is expected to draw millions of tourists.

<snip>

The beast, believed to have lived 18,000 years ago and preserved in a giant refrigerator, is a key exhibit of the Expo, which will open to the public one week later and will largely feature more modern wonders such as robots.

Full-bodied mammoths have been found in the ground in the past, but the exhibit at the World Expo is billed as the most successful attempt yet to excavate and display almost the full animal.

The extinct mammoth on display has a nearly intact soil-colored head covered with muscle tissue and some woolly hair, along with tusks and a front leg.

more...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1539&e=5&u=/afp/20050318/sc_afp/expo2005japanmammoth_050318070413

[expatriot]

1. oh yeah.... get a female elephant to carry the embryo.. let's get started!

[Pithy Cherub]

15. Jurassic Park redux

came to mind first. Not sure the science is fully prepared hence the cyrogenic 'refrigerated' approach. Why not a freezer. :eyes:

[MetaTrope]

22. Actually, cloned mammoths will be communicating telepathically

with cloned Neanderthal families...cf. The Peking Man (1997)

[hue]

2. It seems Japan and Russia don't have the ethical constraints...

that the US does! I wonder where unconstrained science will lead us!

(Hope baby mammouths aren't born with little tusk nubbins--poor mother elephant!)

[ClarkUSA]

5. What are you talking about? They are not held back by rightwing zealots

Gimme a break. Bush has gutted everything that's not faith-based science.

[freethought]

3. Cloning of mammoths? Possible but

DNA degrades over time even if the specimen is kept in a preserved state, frozen or otherwise. Australia tried to clone a Tasmanian tiger from a preserved specimen but the whole project was abandoned because the DNA was so badly degraded. This mammoth is 18000 years old, the genetic material may be in poor condition.

[Lorien]

6. Yep, it's condition overall looks "poor" at best

but those tusks are fairly impressive:


I seriously doubt that there's any possibility of cloning from this specimen.

[xchrom]

4. fingers crossed -- this is one species

i'd love to returned.

[Vogon_Glory]

7. Sergeant Tusker's Lonely Hearts Club Band

I'd feel for the mammoth if the cloning job is successful. Imagine being the only one of your species left (And if the northern permafrost keeps melting, there won't be much chance for collecting the DNA of other mammoths), living in a very small space, surrounded by the little two legged pests that hounded your fellows into extinction.

[Zerex71]

8. Just remember:

To the fundies, God put him there. Evolution? Nonsense!

[wildflower]

9. They had refrigerators 18,000 years ago? :)

Anyone else read this sentence that way: "The beast, believed to have lived 18,000 years ago and preserved in a giant refrigerator..."

ANYhoosel (as Janeane would say), that is fascinating. I always wondered why they went extinct.

-wildflower

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

10. Hmm...

What *would* a wooly mammoth keep in a giant refridgerator?

Oh, sorry... Thought I was in the Lounge.

[Don1]

20. His Tuscanini's?

Sorry, I thought you were in the lounge, too.

I am very curious about mammoths, but is this really good news? We are trying to clone an extinct animal that we are largely responsible for killing off. That way we can put the final product of several trial-and-error generations in a zoo in Japan?

[paineinthearse]

13. Impossible!!!!!

Everyone knows the earth and universe were created in 6 days approximagtely 6000 years ago. Blasphemy!

[pinniped]

18. Ok, ok, the beast is really -12,000 years old.

:silly:

[expatriot]

14. Great Neolithic civilization collapses because of bad tech investments.

"Hindsight is always 20-20 on these sort of things," said Cheiftan of Industry and Technology Ugh-Ooga.

But critics of the elder clansmen were not so eager to excuse the ultimately apocalyptic decision of the Chieftans. "One word: Siberia," said Agh-Oof, regular tribal critic. "We eat frozen mammoth in fricking AUGUST."

[wildflower]

21. LOL. A friend said to me, "They did have giant refrigerators back then..."

"They were called glaciers!"

And permafrost.

Who knows how much longer that will be true; we'll need the cooling technology ever more, I fear.

-wildflower

[FrankieBud]

11. mmmmmmmmmm

mammoth

[LiberalEsto]

12. frozen

mammoth-on-a-stick

[The Sushi Bandit]

16. I hear Sarah Jessica Parker is dating the "Wooly"

she will do anything to help her career

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

17. compatible, ---looks wise

That "Sux in the City" star kind of has that "prehistoric" look--
every time I see that face I think of scary monsters.

[daleo]

19. These are Jesus elephants

The poor babies were too busy playing to board the ark in time. The same thing happened to the unicorns. Such a tragedy.