Mammoth DNA Decoded (from ATSNN)

Scientists at the German Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology have decoded the 5,000 or so DNA "letters" of the Mammoths mitochondria. This has enabled them to form a better understanding of the relationship between the now extinct creatures and modern Elephants.



This is an interesting development, not least because it uses a new process that enables Scientists to extract more usefull DNA from fossilised remains than has been previously possible.

It is also usefull in understanding the evolutionary paths the creatures took in relation to it's modern Pachyderm relatives. It would seem they are closely related to Asian Elephants of the modern era.

Maybe, in the near future, they may be able to reassemble usable DNA to constuct a living Mammoth, which would be a Scientific landmark, much akin to the Hollywood "Jurrassic Park" that we are familiar with.



Related News Links:
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[edit on 18/12/05 by stumason]

it's very cool the aspect of being able to see what our brightest minds are able to do in the field of historical research.

but one has to wonder, as you said, if they will actually be stupid enough to create a "jurrasic park"

what if a government agency gets ahold of this (i'm sure they will), and proceeds to try to create a hybrid human/? supersoldier from what so many are trying research?

It just seems to me that no matter what steps forward we take, someone is always looking for a "wartime" aspect or application.

cool, but scary.

Indeed...at least mammoths are not man-eaters..... But, if they can do this with fluffy elephants, then what else can they do it with?

But imagine the possibilites. You could recreate a Neanderthal and find out if they can speak, find out how smart they can be...But then you get ethical considerations as well. Is it a lab animal? Would it be afforded "human" rights?

This is certainly a gigantic break through for scientists all over the world. Maybe in the future they just might reproduce one of these animals and they could get a better understanding of how they lived. It would definetly give us an idea as to how they worked in packs.

As for the picture of the mammoth, I too am unable to see it.

These kinds of findings always get me excited. When we can capture part of the past, it is interesting, but when it involves something like DNA, it is all the better. I'm not sure if the "Jurassic Park" scenario is possible and my belief is that it is not preferable, but having a better understanding of the nature of these beasts, beyond their bones and in some cases their corpses, is quite a breakthrough.

It's almost as exciting as this finding:

www.abovetopsecret.com...


[edit on 2005/12/18 by GradyPhilpott]

So if current research procededs, and we gain the ability to clone the beast.
would the Asian elephant provide the best surrogate?

[edit on 18-12-2005 by spacedoubt]

Originally posted by spacedoubt
So if current research procededs, and we gain the ability to clone the beast.
would the Asian elephant provide the best surrogate?

[edit on 18-12-2005 by spacedoubt]

It would appear that is the closest match with regards to genetic "closeness", but wether it would work would be down to the Dr Mephestos and they're knowledge of seven-assed genetics.....

[edit on 18/12/05 by stumason]

Originally posted by stumason
Indeed...at least mammoths are not man-eaters..... But, if they can do this with fluffy elephants, then what else can they do it with?

But imagine the possibilites. You could recreate a Neanderthal and find out if they can speak, find out how smart they can be...But then you get ethical considerations as well. Is it a lab animal? Would it be afforded "human" rights?

man-eaters weren't quite on the lines of what i was getting at...

what i was considering, while it is a fantastic breakthrough, and has great applications in the realm of history...

if they could decode a mammoth that was millions of years old, what current animal/human could "they" decode and take out what they don't like....

i.e.- the movie "soldier"

as far as the jurassic park scenario....i don't find it highly likely, but i'm sure someone would be stupid enough to try it, or mutate somthing...at least until it was big enough to eat them...hehe..

how big of a toothpick would you need for those teeth?

broomstick anyone?

I'm very disappointed that stories like this have fallen into disfavor on ATSNN. Are scientific findings regarding well-known and extant animals or enigmatic extinct animals any less important than blurry photographs of or third or fourth party stories of this thing or that thing that someone purported was this, that or the other thing?

I agree that every local event is not ATSNN material, but it would seem to me that watershed events, whether scientific, legal, business-related, or political should have a place for discussion, because we never know how any finding or event will ultimately affect "alternative" topics that interest so many here. Nothing, not even the "alternative, occurs in a vacuum.

So when are they gonna clone one of these smelly beasts?

All cons- against aside, it would be really neat to see one.

dont' get me wrong grady... i think it's a fantastic find and i wish them all the best at re-writing some of the history of our animal species....

it's not everyday that you can prove wrong a couple thousand years of teachings...

I bet the mammoth will be closer to the elephant than anyone would guess , hey do u think they'll make a movie about this ? it would be refreshing after all the overused dino idea

It's a shame that they could not put their resources together and put them to use on the human genome and advance that area of genitics. Sure it might be nice to know what the Wolly Mammoth genome looks like but, it could be even better to know how the cancer genome acts and behaves so we could get a grip on it and wipe it out.