Resurrecting the Mammoth

Would anyone like a pet mammoth? Well, if you've got $10 million dollars burning a hole in your pocket, you might just be able to get one. And I'm not talking about a run of the mill stuffed one, but the living, breathing sack of potatoes. 

According to the New York Times this morning, scientists have stated that they believe that they have the ability to isolate the mammoth genome (genetic code) from the hooves, horns, and hair left to us. If they were able to decode it, they should be able to slowly, over many generations, change an elephant egg into the equivalent of a mammoth egg and plant it into the uterus of a modern day elephant. Sort of the same technology that they used to make Roundup-resistant corn. Right now they're looking for the $10 million dollars that they estimate it will take to perform this experiment. 

These are some very interesting developments, and it's hard to form an opinion on them. I mean, who wouldn't get excited about the idea of seeing animals at the zoo that have been extinct for thousands of years? However, in spite of the 'coolness' factor, we should keep in mind that this technology, if highly developed, could be used for many other uses besides resurrecting really cool animals. 

For instance, many scientists are talking about isolating the genome of the neanderthal. I'm sure many anthropologists would give their back teeth to be able to study what they believe is a 'half human' missing link, however we should find that prospect scary and revolting. 

Another direction this could go is if this were applied to more recent people. One could envision a world where scientists were created out of the genome of Albert Einstein, political leaders created in the image of Caesar Augustus or Winston Churchill, and military generals developed out of the remains of of Napoleon or Alexander the Great. 

These prospects may be a little far fetched, but by this experimentation we are stepping in this direction. I'm not sure what the future of this will hold, but it is essential to remind ourselves in the meantime of the potential of a new technology to uses other than that which were sold to us.