http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110117/wl_asia_afp/japansciencemammoth_20110117104445

TOKYO (AFP) – Japanese researchers will launch a project this year to resurrect the long-extinct mammoth by using cloning technology to bring the ancient pachyderm back to life in around five years time.

Just thought this was interesting and ever so slightly related to Skyrim

Isn't there already a thread about this in the community discussion section?

Jurassic Park, anyone?

Right? maybe theyve never seen that movie

Cant wait!! A nice thing to see after all the things we've made extinct. It could be a nicemeat source once they have been cloned and large enough to breed in numbers.

We'd have to put them in a suitable habitat seeing as the world they once roamed is, obviously, vastly different.

This thread is totally off topic...

No, Skyrim Park!

russia, greenland, in wildlife reserves. and maybe alaska, but i doubt it, too much pipeline and an already fragile ecosystem.

Mammoth? Cool!
Just, for the love of Akatosh, don't clone velociraptors!!! oo:

I'd eat my hat if this turns out well.

Besides, there must be plenty of ethical concerns to recreating an extinct species.

I don't mean a rampaging mammoth either. I mean making it horribly misformed or brain-damaged and the whole thing ending in tragedy, while the scientists announce it a "resounding success!"

there is already a thread for this

Well... Mammoth stake BBQ anyone? :celebration:

This isn't the first time it's been tried. The last time, I believe, was back around 2000. The linchpin is whether or not they can find complete enough dna in sufficient quantity. Last time they weren't able to. Their sample was either too degraded or contaminated. We'll see if it goes better this time.

As far as habitat goes, really anything other than tropical is fine. Most of the megafauna in the American plains region has shaggy fur (bison, wolves, bears.)

I can't imagine it will be successful. The idea is based on techniques used for mouse DNA frozen for 16 years, as opposed to 10,000. Also, contemporary animals have only a 30% success rate with cloning. Also, elephants have something like a 13 month gestation, increasing difficulty and complications. I expect this experiment to fail, but to pave the way for others in the future.

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1159530-scientists-team-plans-to-have-successfully-cloned-mammoth-in-4-years/