View Full Version : Wooly Mammoth DNA Decoded
This is just too cool. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4535190.stm) If they start cloning them, well, I can't say I want one. But maybe if they could make me a miniature one, you know, a midget wooly mammoth, that might be a great conversation-starter.
Scientists have pieced together part of the genetic recipe of the extinct woolly mammoth.
The 5,000 DNA letters spell out the genetic code of its mitochondria, the structures in the cell that generate energy.
The research, published in the online edition of Nature, gives an insight into the elephant family tree.
It shows that the mammoth was most closely related to the Asian rather than the African elephant.
The three groups split from a common ancestor about six million years ago, with Asian elephants and mammoths diverging about half a million years later.
"We have finally resolved the phylogeny of the mammoth which has been controversial for the last 10 years," lead author Michael Hofreiter of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, told the BBC News website.
Strike For The South
12-21-2005, 07:00
I know what I want for my birthday :cheers:
Samurai Waki
12-21-2005, 07:39
The newest threat in the modern day Arctic Battlefield
Prodigal
12-21-2005, 08:07
Now if they could just bring the Dodo back there would be something other than turkey to eat at christmas.
bmolsson
12-21-2005, 09:19
Imagine the mammoth burgers you can make.... ~;)
Adrian II
12-21-2005, 09:44
Imagine the mammoth burgers you can make.... ~;)Heinz is rich enough as it is. :san_tongue:
Heinz is rich enough as it is. :san_tongue:
I was thinking mammoth burgers might be more an A1 type meal. :san_cool:
Now we must move onto the dinosaurs.
It was found some "meat"(there is a better word, but I don`t know it in English) on dinosaur skeleton relatively recently, I`m hoping that it could possibly be DNA in it.
Ianofsmeg16
12-21-2005, 12:38
Now we must move onto the dinosaurs.
It was found some "meat"(there is a better word, but I don`t know it in English) on dinosaur skeleton relatively recently, I`m hoping that it could possibly be DNA in it.
I am gonna dispell a myth created by jurassic park here fellas, the technique shown in both the book and the movie, by which you take the blood out of mosquitoes that have been "frozen" in amber is pure fiction, Michael Chrichton said so himself. the best chance we would have of bringing back a dinosaur is from mummified skins (there have been some mummified fossils of an Edmontosaurus found) but they would have lost all DNA millions of years ago. The fact remains that dinosaurs died out far too long ago for any DNA to remain on any part of their bodies. And anyway, we have no idea how these creatures would behave, so how could we prepare our reaction to these ancient creatures, or how could we predict the reaction of the creatuires themselves when faced with a world 65 million years different from their own? Thanks for reading :san_smiley:
P.S The wooly mammoth thing does sound awesome!:san_cheesy:
I am gonna dispell a myth created by jurassic park here fellas, the technique shown in both the book and the movie, by which you take the blood out of mosquitoes that have been "frozen" in amber is pure fiction, Michael Chrichton said so himself. the best chance we would have of bringing back a dinosaur is from mummified skins (there have been some mummified fossils of an Edmontosaurus found) but they would have lost all DNA millions of years ago. The fact remains that dinosaurs died out far too long ago for any DNA to remain on any part of their bodies. And anyway, we have no idea how these creatures would behave, so how could we prepare our reaction to these ancient creatures, or how could we predict the reaction of the creatuires themselves when faced with a world 65 million years different from their own? Thanks for reading :san_smiley:
We have found actual "meat"(the good word i still missing) in dinosaurs. It was found in the knee or something, where it had been preserved. But if you`re sure that DNA can`t survive that long, then it doesn`t really matter.
Ianofsmeg16
12-21-2005, 13:10
the muscle that they have found is probably too Dead for it to contain DNA, unfortunately, as a dinosaur lover i would like to see at least one dinosaur in my life, but I'd order it shot after I've had a close inspection. no Raptor is going to get loose on my watch :)
I don`t quite see why being so cautious with dinosaurs; remember, they aren`t supernatural. :san_cool:
Ianofsmeg16
12-21-2005, 13:25
To Really be able to study them, you would have to see them roaming free in there natural habitat, fpr many of them that would mean wide open plains, places that could be near civilisation. unfortunatly some will eventually get out of a hypothetical "park" and into these towns, causing havoc. Remember, we have no idea what these animals behaved like, their skin could be bullet proof (unlikely i know, but as an example) so how would a defensless town cope with dinosaurs roaming around?
Louis VI the Fat
12-21-2005, 13:28
This is all very exciting!
Recreating all those long extinct animals is not realistic with our present scientific means and will not be for a long time - if ever.
But the new insights on evolutionary relationships these DNA-decoding techniques allow are spectacular enough by themselves. :san_shocked:
Fantastic.
@Viking: tissue, flesh?
To Really be able to study them, you would have to see them roaming free in there natural habitat, fpr many of them that would mean wide open plains, places that could be near civilisation. unfortunatly some will eventually get out of a hypothetical "park" and into these towns, causing havoc. Remember, we have no idea what these animals behaved like, their skin could be bullet proof (unlikely i know, but as an example) so how would a defensless town cope with dinosaurs roaming around?
If they have bullet proof skin, then just blow them up!
Set up electric fences around that park and have heavy security around(machine guns, cannons etc. if necessary).
But the dinosaur doesn`t even have to be dangerous at all, remember that there is also many small species, and that the biggest dinosaurs were vegetarians and moved really slow.
@Viking: tissue, flesh?
Tissue might be the word, thanks!
Kralizec
12-21-2005, 14:29
Awesome news!
They have been able to recreate mammoths for a much longer time, though. Theoreticly you could take an ovum from an Asian or African elephant, place mammoth DNA in it and place it in an elephants womb. For some reason, nobody ever had the balls to do it :san_angry:
Adrian II
12-21-2005, 14:49
I was thinking mammoth burgers might be more an A1 type meal. :san_cool:As long as it is A+ you are safe. :san_tongue:
The 5,000 DNA letters spell out the genetic code of its mitochondria, the structures in the cell that generate energy.
The research, published in the online edition of Nature, gives an insight into the elephant family tree.
I am sorry to dissappoint you guys, but they haven't found the code of the Mammoth genome, just that of its mitochondria. One of the odd things about our cells (and those of other animals and plants) is that there are tiny other "cells" inside them. These are mitochondria (plants also have so-called chloroplasts) and they look a lot like bacteria. They even have their own genome. A very small one, totally insufficient to survive outside of our cells, but a genome all the same. Their function is energy production: with the help of mitochondria, our cells are able to produce approx. ten times as much energy from a unit of glucose as they would be on their own. Chloroplasts use the same reaction, but the other way round: they use energy (sunlight) to produce glucose.
Since mitochondria don't mate and their genome has a very constant rate mutation, they are very useful for determining evolutionairy lineages. But for cloning purpose, they are AFAIK useless.
English assassin
12-21-2005, 16:00
Oh. mDNA would be useless for cloning right enough.
Never mind, they can't take the giant squid away from us, can they Dev dave?
Lets hope they find a Thylacine soon.
Lets hope they find a Thylacine soon.Why, how do they taste? :san_grin:
English assassin
12-21-2005, 16:49
Why, how do they taste? :san_grin:
A bit like panda I hear.
solypsist
12-21-2005, 18:15
cloning a living dinosaur would pretty much another nail* in the intelligent design theory certain groups keep trying to foist upon rational people. so let's get to it!
*
ie. the argument that Fossils never were animals. They're a hoax by Satan and/or materialistic science.
and
They were put there by God to test your faith.
Red Harvest
12-21-2005, 19:26
I am sorry to dissappoint you guys, but they haven't found the code of the Mammoth genome, just that of its mitochondria. One of the odd things about our cells (and those of other animals and plants) is that there are tiny other "cells" inside them. These are mitochondria (plants also have so-called chloroplasts) and they look a lot like bacteria. They even have their own genome. A very small one, totally insufficient to survive outside of our cells, but a genome all the same. Their function is energy production: with the help of mitochondria, our cells are able to produce approx. ten times as much energy from a unit of glucose as they would be on their own. Chloroplasts use the same reaction, but the other way round: they use energy (sunlight) to produce glucose.
Since mitochondria don't mate and their genome has a very constant rate mutation, they are very useful for determining evolutionairy lineages. But for cloning purpose, they are AFAIK useless.
Their is another group working on the nuclear DNA as well. They say they can extract the entire genome from what they have in about a year. It is assembling it into a working chromosome that is the problem.
Theoretically, it should be possible to use an elephant to make a hybrid and work out the kinks, but it could take a very long time. They are hoping to extract some frozen sperm. The elephant is a close enough relative (descendant) that it should be viable. By doing the same thing over several generations you could get a descendant that is mostly mammoth.
I am sorry to dissappoint you guys, but they haven't found the code of the Mammoth genome, just that of its mitochondria.
Don not confuse me with your facts! I want a miniature woolly mammoth, and I shall have one!
Theoretically, it should be possible to use an elephant to make a hybrid and work out the kinks, but it could take a very long time. They are hoping to extract some frozen sperm. The elephant is a close enough relative (descendant) that it should be viable. By doing the same thing over several generations you could get a descendant that is mostly mammoth.
Even better, you make a mammoth-clone and let it develop that far in labratory that it has developed stem cells. Then you insert those in a female elephant embryo. If done correctly, the elephant will grow up with mammoth genitals.
Now you clone another mammoth and insert the egg in the elephant with mammoth genitals, and 20 months later you have a mammoth.
(Just as a sidenote, it is possible insert human stem cells into two elephant (male and female) embryos. Then make these stem cells become the genitals of the elephants.
If those two elephants gets offspring together, the offspring will be human beings.)
Ianofsmeg16
12-21-2005, 19:52
Now you clone another mammoth and insert the egg in the elephant with mammoth genitals, and 20 months later you have a mammoth.
Sorry to lower the tone but it has to be said...I have mammoth gentials :san_laugh:
ok...back on topic all this stuff is very exciting but i won't believ they can re-create a wooly mammoth until i see one staring me in the face
Dutch_guy
12-21-2005, 20:16
Don not confuse me with your facts! I want a miniature woolly mammoth, and I shall have one!
hear hear !
:balloon2:
Byzantine Mercenary
12-21-2005, 22:02
the biggest problem in bringing back extinct species is the tendancy of DNA to break up over time even when preserved, think of it like leaveing a tower block exposed to the wind for 10000 years, all that you would have left is the building blocks, the same is true of DNA i belive that the material found inside the Tyranosaur bone was just made up of all of the constituant bases of the DNA broken up and so of no use to anyone.
It is believed that mitochondria may have once been a species similar to bacteria that formed a mutantly benificial relationship with our earlyest ansestors, so recovering mitochondiral DNA wont lead to us being able to clone mamoths.
However if intact sperm (which has less DNA and so is less likely to break) is found it could be possible to create a hybrid but you usually find that most interspecies hybrids have a low fertility so it would probably be quite hard to make a pure mamoth.
insidentally i think that you can already enjoy the nutritious taste of mamoth, ive heard of preserved mamoth being eaten in siberia, i guess its like steak thats been in the freezer for a while? :san_laugh:
Soulforged
12-22-2005, 00:32
I've heard this before, I hope this time it works. :cheers:
:san_laugh: When I posted the Turin's Shroud thread nobody was interested:san_laugh: :mecry:
ie. the argument that Fossils never were animals. They're a hoax by Satan and/or materialistic science.
and
They were put there by God to test your faith.
The Lord told Moses and Abraham that he made countless worlds; worlds that have been, that is and will come. Many worlds rejected him and were destroyed. He also revealed that the worlds were never made out of nothing. They are organized matter. Hence it is obvious that our would is the making of several worlds and the bones that lie in the ground are remnants from destroyed worlds.
That is why our world is only 6000 years as an organized sphere, but the parts it is made from are considerable older.
:san_cool:
Samurai Waki
12-22-2005, 11:34
Enough of religion, I don't care if god disapproves of my soon-to-be Wooly Mammoth, Walrus and Penguin Army.
The Wooly Mammoth will have Howitzers strapped to their backs to provide logistical artillery support. The Walruses will be used as naval infantry, to overtake shipping lanes, and the Penguins will be my shock troops, consisting of heavily armed Penguin Warriors, and Commando Units. Their cute and cuddliness will catch all militaries with their pants down. Now all I need will be Pteradactyls to provide aerial support. :san_grin:
Devastatin Dave
12-22-2005, 15:36
Oh. mDNA would be useless for cloning right enough.
Never mind, they can't take the giant squid away from us, can they Dev dave?
Lets hope they find a Thylacine soon.
The giant squid rules no doubt!!! I hope and pray that the Taz Tiger is never found to be honest. Not saying that I hope they are extinct. I hope that there is a strong breeding colony in the remotness of Tazmania and they will live without the destructive intervention of man. They failed to remove DNA from the pups that were stored so it looks like cloning is not the answer for this species as well. It breaks my heart when I see those old films of those poor animals pacing back and forth in the zoo.:san_cry:
Devastatin Dave
12-22-2005, 15:41
Don not confuse me with your facts! I want a miniature woolly mammoth, and I shall have one!
Thanks to South Park, we now know that you can splice the DNA of a pot belly pig and a elephant. Unfortunately you might end up with little piggies that look like Mr Garison... uh, how that happen...:san_laugh:
(Just as a sidenote, it is possible insert human stem cells into two elephant (male and female) embryos. Then make these stem cells become the genitals of the elephants.
If those two elephants gets offspring together, the offspring will be human beings.)
You mean chimeras*? I knew they created chimera-mice, but I never heard of inter-species chimeras. It only works if the elephant and the woolly mammoth have identical molecular signalling systems or else the embryo won't develop properly.
* Chimera does not directly refer to the creature from Greek mythology, but to an animal whose embryo has been composed of two different stemcells/fertilized eggs. In effect, the animal has two different genomes. To be honest, despite having been explained it thrice I still have trouble grasping what use this technique is. All I know is that it is used as a way to evade the effect of certain lethal genes, so that their effect can be studied.
master of the puppets
12-22-2005, 17:13
SWEET, it is good that they got it now, cause they say that any DNA over 100,00 years old is worthless, i know that that gives the mamoth as nice buffer zone but still, hmmm...
...i wonder how much ancient DNA you could get out of the la brea tar pits.
You mean chimeras*? I knew they created chimera-mice, but I never heard of inter-species chimeras. It only works if the elephant and the woolly mammoth have identical molecular signalling systems or else the embryo won't develop properly.
* Chimera does not directly refer to the creature from Greek mythology, but to an animal whose embryo has been composed of two different stemcells/fertilized eggs. In effect, the animal has two different genomes. To be honest, despite having been explained it thrice I still have trouble grasping what use this technique is. All I know is that it is used as a way to evade the effect of certain lethal genes, so that their effect can be studied.
Yes, chimera is the word.
They have so far made rats with brains whos 1% of the brain cells are human cells, and sheep with hearts and livers with 20% human cells.
The next goal is to make livers and hearts in sheep, maybe with 100% human cells, such that the organs can be given to humans that need them.
Since elephants and mammoths are more closely related to each other, I`d imagine it would be possible to make chimeras out of them.
I'd love a tiny mammoth (?!) in a little cage. It would be great!
Since elephants and mammoths are more closely related to each other, I`d imagine it would be possible to make chimeras out of them.
You are probably right about this.
But making elephants with human genitals seems rather... far-fetched.
You are probably right about this.
But making elephants with human genitals seems rather... far-fetched.
You just wait and see...:san_cool:
After reading some more, you`d only need the testicles to be human on the male elephant; I don`t know what`s required for the female, but presumably the female genitals would need to mostly human.
AntiochusIII
12-24-2005, 09:04
The word Chimera reminds me of Fullmetal Alchemist. Those who know it will know why. :san_grin:
Nonetheless, the discovery can't help you people with getting your own wooly mammoth pets, as has been pointed out, but the contribution is impressive in adding another piece of the jigsaw that is the DNA evolutionary history.
By the way, Soly, your assertions that ID would get another nail, as pleasing as it may be, unfortunately won't work. Because ID is basically a claim that God uses evolution. So the mammoth must be another piece in His majestic plan for humanity. :san_undecided:
But, of course, the six thousand years-old world thing got another nail in a magnitude of nails already in place.
Kralizec
12-24-2005, 14:07
(Just as a sidenote, it is possible insert human stem cells into two elephant (male and female) embryos. Then make these stem cells become the genitals of the elephants.
If those two elephants gets offspring together, the offspring will be human beings.)
That is...mildy disturbing.
You just wait and see...:san_cool:
Frankly, I think it will be a likely contestant for the next Ig-nobel prize contests. But we'll see ~;) .
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