DNA, Cloning, Genetic engineering... Going too far?

Take a look at this (Source: Sky News - MAMMOTH PARK REALITY IN 20 YEARS)

A safari park featuring mammoths and woolly rhinoceros could open to visitors in the next 20 years.

Scientists from Japan and Russia believe they can take the concept behind film Jurassic Park and make it a reality.



A group of them will travel to Siberia this week to hunt out the carcasses of dead prehistoric animals that could be brought 'back to life'.

They will take DNA from the animals, perfectly preserved in the freezing conditions, and transplant them into the living relatives of the animals, such as elephants and rhinos. The animals will hopefully then give birth to creatures that roamed the planet 20,000 years ago.

'Absolutely possible'

Scientists aim to take the mammoths and other fearsome beasts back to Siberia where they will create a modern day prehistoric park.

Sounds like science fiction? Well, scientists are confident woolly mammoths will be roaming the Siberian planes within two decades.

"It probably sounds far-fetched, but it is absolutely possible to do this," said project co-ordinator Professor Akira Iritani.

Pleistocene Park

Mr Iritani announced earlier this year he had successfully transplanted a spinach gene into a pig to change the animal's fat into less fatty linoleic acid.

The key to the project's success is finding perfectly preserved carcasses in the Siberian tundra with undamaged DNA. The team is concentrating its search on a small area 300 miles south of the Arctic circle.

Siberian tiger, steppe lions, giant deer and ancient foxes are believed to be buried there. The Siberian sanctuary will eventually enclose an area twice the size of Britain.

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We're seriously toying with nature here... Bringing back extinct animals, mammoth in this case, why not revive some dinosaur later on while they're at it? :eek: What I suddenly thought of when I read this news article was about the ancient civilizations and their believe of the afterlife. Truely they were correct in a way, modern technology has the capability of bringing back the dead from the past.

In this article I am disturbed by this part:

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Mr Iritani announced earlier this year he had successfully transplanted a spinach gene into a pig to change the animal's fat into less fatty linoleic acid.

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Wasn't there news about transplanting jellyfish gene into a monkey few years back? What are these scientists doing? It's not natural.

Ah man, it'll be Jarassic Park all over again...but in real-life. I just don't think it's right. Will there ever be a line drawn as to what is morally right to do and what just shouldn't be touched. I mean these animals no longer exist, we should just accept that and let nature and life take it's course.

Trying to alter the way things are and bringing back animals from the past, I just believe it shouldn't be done. You just never know what will happen, could turn out devastating.

Greg

I love and respect science of all kinds,but when did the scientists decide it was okay to "play God".I think it's wrong to bring these creatures back to life.Nature has always worked in mysterious ways,but nine times out of ten there is a reason for the things that nature does.None of these creatures have any natural predators on the earth anymore.How do we regulate the populations.I don't know about you,but I'm not gonna be the unfortunate person that has to spay/neuter the saber tooth tigers.Another thing is what sort of genetic diseases do these things carry,and can they be spread to other creatures.If so,I'm willing to bet your local physicians/vetranarians don't have any vaccines for them.Scientists need to do some serious research before unleashing this bright idea on the world.What's next.(Hmm lets see what happens when we cross a human and a rabid chihuahua.)

well i feel excited also and worried also.. because.. this project..
on mamoth has already started.. and the main researcher .. is a
japanese biologist Dr. Kazufumi goto and he has claimed that he can
do it.. well so the mamoth will come alive.. but then what will he
eat... and where is the place to keep them on this earth.. because
now its not the old earth.. full of jungles.. but today the earth is
full of skycrapers... ohhhhh..

thanks for the info..

Um, can I just say, this is just the revese toying with nature from what we'r used to, Human's have killed of ALOT more animal's than any one here really know's, maby now is our chance to un-do some damage.

- Noia

Maybe these creatures carry some genetic anti-postion for virusses we have now. I think that it can be controled, we're talking about people that do this for a living, that work with protocols to protect the rest of us. Just because the idea is new for you doesn't mean it is for everybody. There are so many possibilities what might happen if they can get them back, so we need to keep discussing these subjects to get used to the idea of making something possible like that.

XaMi©

I know that we humans have probably aided in killing and making a lot of animals extinct, but I don't know whether it's right to bring em back, especially not in the way that these people are intending. They want to bring back an animal that lived ages ago and they want to use them for our amusement - as a park. Maybe I might agree with it if they were suggesting to bring back a species that just recently died off and try and bring it back into the wild, but that is not what they are planning.

I also don't think that these things can be controlled. Once we bring a species back, you'd get all these scientists and whoever trying and experimenting with things that shouldn't really be touched. I just don't think it's something that can be controlled, people's imaginations always get the better of em and once they have the power, they might not be able to resist it.

Greg

Heh... but it sure would make some good "Godzilla" footage, wouldn't it? :)

Science without experimentation is dead. Experimentation resulting in undesireable findings is a given(some hack computers, some hack jeans, and others hack genes). Therefore, science without trial AND error is farcical to say the least.

I've always been supportive of the cloning idea. If they think it can be done, let them have at it and we can all learn from it. Besides, it's nothing that a big-game rifle couldn't handle if push comes to shove.

Furthermore (and this is strictly my opinion), the government placing a ban on human cloning has only hurt our own progress in this field of science... Now we have to wait until the rest of the world figures it out for us? Yeah... Like they're going to be "humane" about it. Oh well... At least us good, red-blooded Americans can say, "Our hands are clean of it.... Just in case."

It's that old, medieval mentality back in full swing again... We're afraid of what we don't understand, so not understanding "must" be better... May God have mercy on our pathetic, little souls...

Rev

I might have to agree with xamurai79, on this. there is a slight possibility that these creatures could bring something good to human kind.

But on the other hand: Isn´t time we leave this planet to heal it self. It is about time we find out a way to exist without damaging the entire planet.

Have you ever noticed that every other animal on this planet adapts to the surrondings so the species fit in. We humans adapt the surrondings, so they fit us! That can´t be the way to go about it!

To do genetic research is fine as long as we don´t let it in to the wild once we are done with it!

I think maybe scientists better watch Star Trek 2 before they go too much farther

If this worked, and they were able to clone a dinosuar, and realized that thier theory of how they behaved and what they looked like was wrong. I would absolutely drop dead laughing. I find this highly interesting, and I would really like to check out an exhibition w/ species that died off from extiction.

You could increase my IQ by a factor of 100,000 and I still don't think I would be intelligent enough to 'play God'.

Personally I like the idea. Why not bring them back, I'd like to see one sometime in my life.

As much as it has got to be an unmoral thing to do, I really like the idea of re-creation. However, can you just image if something like Jurassic Park did occur. I just hope while they are at it they modify the clones to be mini dinos. I would like a 5" T-Rex.

First of all, to refute some of the arguments given:

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nine times out of ten there is a reason for the things that nature does

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The first rule of evolution is that nature is not deterministic. It does not have a reason for doing things, it does not go out and decide a result then work its way towards the goal. It does not know anything, and does not want anything, it just is.

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what sort of genetic diseases do these things carry

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Um, last time i checked, genetic diseases are passed on through reproduction from parents to children. (eg/ hemophilia) Im not sure what you plan to do with these wooly mamoths :umph: , but im sure the scientists will be more *ahem* professional. ;)

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why not revive some dinosaur later on while they're at it?

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Well, wooly mammoths died of ~18 000 years ago with the last ice age (not sure the exact date, but this is close enough) whereas dinosaurs died of 65 million years ago. Simple math says this is a difference of 64 982 000 years, not exactly in the same ballpark.

I agree fully with Rev Jazzman about science needing to make mistakes in order to learn from them (not that this will necessarily be a mistake!) and without human curiosity to push thre frontiers of what is accepted, we would be living in on a flat world consisting solely of Europe where the sun revolves around us, the chosen beings.

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when did the scientists decide it was okay to "play God"

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Seriously someone tell me what’s wrong with playing god? The phrase implies that the scientists are supposed to leave the world as god intended, but for all we know god intended us to clone stuff. As for the scientist the selves I bet they came to the conclusion that playing god is cool around the same time they were burning ants with a magnifying glass.

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what sort of genetic diseases do these things carry

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1. If you clone an animal with some bad genes the clone will have those same bad genes. The out come may be different because of environment but the genes will be the same.

I'm not sure where I heard this, but here's a joke that introduces a thought or two...

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There was a team of genetic engineers who decided to compete with God by recreating man. Amused by their idea, God decided He would take on the challange. The team of genetic engineers went to their labs, and God stepped aside to watch... As the team began to gather dust from which they were to create man, God stepped in and said, "Ah-ah-ah! Get your own dust!"

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The term "playing God" was properly addressed by cwk9's implementation of burning ants with a magnifying glass (bravo!).

Hitler "played God" by killing Jews. Early settlers of America "played God" by driving the Indians into poverty-stricken "reservations." /bin/lady "played God" by having planes crash into various buildings. On the other hand, .gov "plays God" by declaring whether one is "innocent" or "guilty."

The thought of "playing God" in many instances seems rather foolish to me (but call me a skeptic as you ponder why my handle is "Rev. Jazzman." :))

No one can "play God." That's ridiculous. In my mind, "we live and learn" and that is "God's way." In my mind, we still have to answer to Him, regardless of what .gov thinks of us, and that's "God's way." In my mind, I seem to remember scripture "sightings" that go along the lines of:

"And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. " -- Gen. 1:26

"And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all the moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. " -- Gen. 9:2

"Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; and has put all things under his feet: " -- Ps. 8:6

"Playing God" has nothing to do with genetic engineering simply because God gave man dominion over creation. To say, "No! You can't do that!" would be closer to "playing God" than accepting that dominion.

Guess what... That is God's way...

My request is simple... If you're going to bring "Playing God" into the picture, at least roll the credits in the right direction... It makes for easier reading that way.

Long thought made short... As long as we're still using what God gave (and intended for) us to use, then wer're not "playing God..."

If the thought of playing God still bothers you, then check the parable of the talents (Mat. 25:14-30) to see whether it is best to bury what He's given us in the dirt or whether we should invest (use) it.

Best,

Rev