Could and should we clone extinct animals to bring them back to life again? By Caitlin Selge SACE no. 224556J The following is an issues investigation into the topic of “Could and should we clone extinct animals to bring them back to life again?” Firstly it will be discussed if the fantasy idea of de-extinction is even possible, and then if it is something that should occur in our future will be looked into. Cloning is something that is often seen as an impossible thing, something that only occurs in sci-fi movies. But it is possible, and scientists around the world are making breakthrough discoveries in cloning, and resurrection science. Although some people want to clone humans or create new body parts, the following is strictly about the resurrection of extinct animals, and if this could be the future of animal conservation. Resurrection science is based on DNA and using the discovered genomes of animals to create almost exact copies. …show more content…
And bring them back to life? Well, resurrection science isn’t quite cloning. Cloning is the use of somatic cell nuclear transfer, or creating stem cells with a genetic match to the nucleus donor, in which the cells have to be taken from a living individual. This was how the famous Dolly the Sheep came to be. However, Beth Shapiro, an expert in ancient DNA and a biologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, explains that the science behind de-extinction, used by scientists working on mammoth de-extinction, is more based around using new molecular tools to edit genomes of currently living species. For the mammoth, this means editing the genome of elephants, so that their DNA sequences match, and look like a Mammoths. This results in more of a hybrid than a clone, with some DNA that of an extinct animal. (Quill, E. (2015). These Are the Extinct Animals We Can, and Should, Resurrect. [Online]