Although Jurassic Park sought to teach our generation some serious lessons, Harvard University genetics professor George Church, known for genome sequencing and gene splicing, hopes the new company, Colossal, can recreate an era in which Mammoths can “walk the arctic tundra again”.
According to NPR, the company stated, "We are working towards bringing back species who left an ecological void as they went extinct” and “as Colossal actively pursues the conservation and preservation of endangered species, we are identifying species that can be given a new set of tools from their extinct relatives to survive in new environments that desperately need them."
In some more palatable terms, the company is proposing that a hybrid animal will be created. Through the use of a CRISPR-Cas9, a gene editing tool, DNA recovered from frozen mammoth specimens will be spliced and integrated into that of an Asian elephant (the mammoth’s closest living relative). So what would the resulting animal be then? Get ready for this…
“THE MAMMOPHANT”
It would still basically look and act like a mammoth. Sick name though.
Sounds like it would hurt if you got stepped on.
Colossal aims to place thousands of these beasts back in Siberia with the help of $15 million in private funding. The NYT delineates that “A former researcher in Dr. Church’s lab, Eriona Hysolli, will oversee the new company’s efforts to edit elephant DNA, adding genes for mammoth traits like dense hair and thick fat for withstanding cold. The researchers hope to produce embryos of these mammoth-like elephants in a few years, and ultimately produce entire populations of the animals”.
On the other hand, there are some possible problems with such a project if Colossal actually manages to produce baby mammophants. Many ethical questions will be raised like,
-Is it humane to produce an animal whose biology we know so little about?
-Who gets to decide whether they can be set loose, potentially to change the ecosystems of tundras in profound ways?
-If there is a theme park created in which the public may view these animals where shall I acquire such a special ticket?
-And would the mammophant make a quality domesticated animal? (asking for a friend, no I don't want a pet mammophant) (ok perhaps I do so what)
Moving on…
One of the huge reasons some scientists want to bring the woolly mammoth back (besides the fact that it’s objectively cool) is the idea that it could possibly help with climate change. For instance, today, in Siberia and North America, the tundra remains engulfed in moss and is rapidly warming and releasing CO2; Dr. Church argues that, “Mammoths are hypothetically a solution to this. Since these large animals once grazed this area, their revival could eradicate this problem as mammoths were know to be ‘ecosystem engineers’ (NYT). Although, many scientists remain skeptical. In particular, Love Dalén, a professor in evolutionary genetics at the Stockholm-based Centre for Palaeogenetics, states, "I personally do not think that this will have any impact, any measurable impact, on the rate of climate change in the future, even if it were to succeed," (NPR). Many people lie with the idea that we must prevent an extincion before reversing it.
Check out the sources below for even more information on this interesting topic!
Do you want mammophants?
Yes, yes you do.
Ok maybe not….
The mammoth seems tired....
Sources
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