back to article Scientists splice mammoth genes into unsuspecting elephant

The long-time staple of sci-fi films to recreate prehistoric colossi could soon become a reality – with the woolly mammoth now a step closer to once again walking the earth. George Church, professor of genetics at Harvard University, has inserted DNA from the frozen remains of a woolly mammoth into cells taken from a live …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Cool

    All they need now is a sabre-toothed tiger and a sloth!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Boffin

      Re: Cool

      Luckily, I know a lot of people that scientists could extract the sloth gene from!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Cool

      "All they need now is a sabre-toothed tiger and a sloth!"

      ...and a really big barbecue.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Trollface

        Re: Cool

        How long before Iceland is selling horsemeat under the "MammothBurger" name??

    3. msknight

      Re: Cool

      I was going to add the bit about the squirrel and the nuts ... but I realised that we've already got parliament...

    4. Isendel Steel
      Coat

      Re: Cool

      And giants to herd them..

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Cool

        And a 700 foot tall wall of ice to keep the mammoths and giants away from the Seven Kingd...er, civilization.

        (Also quite handy in keeping zombies armies at bay)

    5. Gray
      Facepalm

      Re: Cool

      Splice those genes into the typical American lawyer, and we've got a great, hairy, saber-toothed sloth with 12-foot tusks and an insatiable appetite.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Cool

        Splice 'em into politicians and you have a food source that comes running whenever you drop a coin. Of course, you'd have to fight to the death and find a way of winching the steaks up to your huge barbecue; but that's still probably nicer than going to the supermarket.

  2. Bunbury
    Joke

    I'm thinking that a mammoth is itself

    "an enormous source of methane". This'll be just like cane toads. You introduce mammoths to control the tundra and before you know it you need smilodon to control the exploding mammoth population

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I'm thinking that a mammoth is itself

      Fortunately, research has demonstrated that the wooly mammoth is the natural enemy of the cane toad. All you have to do is introduce 5K breeding pairs of mammoths into Oz and voila!, problem solved!!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I'm thinking that a mammoth is itself

        "All you have to do is introduce 5K breeding pairs of mammoths into Oz"

        That's a bit risky. They'll be clinging to driftwood and becoming a worldwide epidemic in no time.

        1. Stevie
          Coffee/keyboard

          Re: I'm thinking that a mammoth is itself

          They'll be clinging to driftwood and becoming a worldwide epidemic in no time.

          You stupid sod. I nearly choked on my tea when I read that.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: I'm thinking that a mammoth is itself

            Terry Pratchett with the serial numbers filed off...In the book (The Last Continent), Australia is full of camels that got there by clinging to driftwood.

            It's even sillier with mammoths.

      2. Bleu

        Re: I'm thinking that a mammoth is itself

        Really unfunny.

        Is it true that some down there enjoy licking the skins of cane toads or drying then eating or smoking the skin for a psychotropic effect?

        I am sad that a nearby public garden has only toads, never frogs. The water is clean enough for frogs to live, but between children 'collecting' and carp, I have never seem a frog there.

        1. John Tserkezis

          Re: I'm thinking that a mammoth is itself

          "Is it true that some down there enjoy licking the skins of cane toads or drying then eating or smoking the skin for a psychotropic effect?"

          Only if you narrow down the right substance and purify it. Generally, licking enough of it off the back of the toad to get you high will get enough toxins to stop your heart too. In other words, you're just gonna die.

          Probably for the best, if you think licking cane toads is a good idea, you're probably not well suited for this society. Might be ok for a politician though.

    2. Simon Harris
      Flame

      Re: I'm thinking that a mammoth is itself

      "the exploding mammoth population"

      I don't think you're supposed to set fire to the methane coming out of them!

      Hopefully not the back end of a mammoth -------------------------->

    3. 's water music

      Re: I'm thinking that a mammoth is itself

      exploding mammoth

      interesting, but have you thought how you might attach it to a shark? <strokes white cat>

    4. Stoneshop
      Mushroom

      Re: I'm thinking that a mammoth is itself

      the exploding mammoth population

      Exploding mammoths, exploding whales, exploding penguins on top of your television, before you know it there'll be no wildlife left

      1. Mark 85

        Re: I'm thinking that a mammoth is itself

        Let's not forget exploding kittens as domesticated critters might end up endangered also.

    5. launcap Silver badge
      Go

      Re: I'm thinking that a mammoth is itself

      > you need smilodon to control the exploding mammoth population

      And velociraptors to control the exploding smilodon population.

      1. x 7

        Re: I'm thinking that a mammoth is itself

        "you need smilodon to control the exploding mammoth population"

        you mean Tony Blair eats mammoths?

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Animal made from ancient degraded DNA released into the wild

    What could possibly go wrong...

    1. Bunbury

      Re: Animal made from ancient degraded DNA released into the wild

      Nah, it'll be OK. They've made them lysine deficient. Nature won't find a way round that.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Animal made from ancient degraded DNA released into the wild

        Excellent point. I think one of the problems faced in this situation, is that it's unprecedented. Not even in a work of fiction has anyone speculated about this kind of science, and the mild peril that may result. However, as luck would have it, I've actually written a novel that deals with this subject at length. It's about about a futuristic amusement park where dinosaurs are brought to life through advanced cloning techniques. I call it "Billy and the Cloneasaurus."

      2. Eddy Ito

        Re: Animal made from ancient degraded DNA released into the wild

        Nah, it'll be OK. They've made them lysine deficient. Nature won't find a way round that.

        Lysine?! Oh shit, I spliced in cat DNA because I thought you said to make them taurine deficient.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      What could possibly go wrong...

      Maybe mammoths were fierce man-eaters, and prehistory humans spent 50,000 years running away, being extremely frightened, and being mammoth lunch. After a narrow victory where humans barely survived, they finally managed to exterminate the ferocious beasts.

      In the far future... "Hey! I found a test tube marked 'Jihadist'. Let's reanimate them, whatever they are."

    3. Old Handle
      Headmaster

      Re: Animal made from ancient degraded DNA ...

      Aren't they all?

    4. Brandon 2

      Re: Animal made from ancient degraded DNA released into the wild

      They spared no expense!

    5. The Indomitable Gall

      Re: Animal made from ancient degraded DNA released into the wild

      I think mammoths are kind of safe -- compared to (for example) cane toads, it would be trivially easy to hunt them down and cull them if required. Much like the sequoias imported and planted in the UK -- if they did prove to be dangerous weeds, we could find them all (they can't hide) and cut them down, and within one sequoia generation, there would be no more sequioas in the UK.

      1. x 7

        Re: Animal made from ancient degraded DNA released into the wild

        "one sequoia generation"

        whats that roughly....3,500 years?

        1. Marshalltown

          Re: Animal made from ancient degraded DNA released into the wild

          " 'one sequoia generation'

          whats that roughly....3,500 years?"

          Considerably less. Sequoias are like guinea pigs and can reproduce long before they mature.

          1. Alan Brown Silver badge

            Re: Animal made from ancient degraded DNA released into the wild

            "Sequoias are like guinea pigs and can reproduce long before they mature."

            They can also fall down and prove remarkably attractive to lightning before they do.

            1. x 7

              Re: Animal made from ancient degraded DNA released into the wild

              so sequoias and guinea pigs both come from Essex?

  4. Neil Barnes Silver badge
    Boffin

    'the first time mammoth genes have been alive'

    Were they ever alive? After all, genes are just a collection of base pairs on an exon...

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A bit sad

    It's not going to be much of a life for the first one is it? It'll be really lonely and also uncomfortably warm.

    I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was quite irritable.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Rule 1 of getting your funding agreed...

    Claim it'll solve climate change.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If you want to see mammoth jeans just pay a visit to any town centre KFC where you'll see mammoth jeans just about covering sweaty mammoth arses. Not pretty.

    1. Bleu

      That is an insult to the long-deceased mammoth.

      I always think of them as hippopotami.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: That is an insult to the long-deceased mammoth.

        Dangerous if anyone gets between them and a food source? Hippopotami are major killers of people, whereas very fat people are major killers of themselves.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I get it! Because fat people!!!

  8. Brian Souder 1

    Darwinism In Reverse

    They will have to add a new category to the Darwin Awards. Scientists too smart for their own good that got killed by their genetic experiments.

    1. Bleu

      Re: Darwinism In Reverse

      Better still, they suddenly grow tusks, long shaggy coats, and an extra elephantid layer of subcutaneous fat from lack of care in handling the genetic materials.

      Unable to contain their hunger, they lumber to a fast-food shop.

      A crowd of human hippotami, arse cracks on display, watch them eat, exclaiming 'Ooh, that is just so gross'.

      As the mammoth-experimenters lumber out, they are trailed by hippos ...

    2. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

      Re: Darwinism In Reverse

      Scientists too smart for their own good that got killed by their genetic experiments.

      Oh yes, we've never seen that trope before.

      Terribly dangerous research, this, splicing some genes into a genome and culturing some cells. Best keep the petri dish under lock and key.

      Personally, I'm going to remain a bit more concerned about the wild-eyed folks at Monsanto et alia whacking random genes into commercial plant seed and the like, with essentially no idea what the consequences of widespread distribution might be.

  9. Little Mouse

    Well I feel sorry for Mrs Elephant.

    As if giving birth to a baby elephants wasn't bad enough....

    1. David 132 Silver badge
      Coffee/keyboard

      Re: Well I feel sorry for Mrs Elephant.

      On seeing the article headline, the first thing that occurred to me was the South Park "Elephant makes love to a pig" episode.

    2. The Indomitable Gall

      Re: Well I feel sorry for Mrs Elephant.

      You realise that mammoths were the same size as Asian elephants, right? Don't let the name fool you.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Given that elephants consume vast quantities of leaves and tall grasses - what will they eat in the Arctic? My recollection is that the tundra is short on trees - or indeed much above lichens and mosses. Further south there are forests - but conifers don't seem to be the same accessible and digestible vegetation that one equates with elephant food.

    1. Little Mouse
      Coat

      what will they eat

      Snow?

      1. Christopher Lane
        Joke

        Just not the yellow stuff, and I should imagine there's going to be huge lakes of yellow snow.

    2. Harvey Trowell

      the diet of champions

      Snow Cones, Eskimo Pie and Arctic Roll hopefully. I plan on opening a vetinary dentist outlet specialising in tusk decay...

    3. David 132 Silver badge
      Joke

      what will they eat in the Arctic?

      Wildlife documentary-makers?

      Oil-drilling crews? (perhaps that's the "this will help combat climate change" angle)

      Either that, or they'll have to learn to swim, then strain krill and plankton through their teeth.

    4. PNGuinn
      WTF?

      Ah - for my next trick sorry, I mean funding application I'm going to splice (or do I mean graft) some prehistoric tundra dna and we'll have 20 foot high lichens for the little buggers to hide in, and that MUST do something for rapid carbon sequesteration... <MUMMY I LEARNDED A NEW WORD> <GLOBAL WARMING> <HIC> <CLIMATE CHANGE>

      Can I have my funding grant now, please, mummy? Want a new moss to talk to...

      NURSE! My pills...

      1. x 7

        "Want a new moss to talk to..."

        have you tried Kate Moss? I hear she's fond of animals

    5. Robert Helpmann??
      Boffin

      What will they eat in the Arctic?

      That's actually been a bit of a mystery until fairly recently. The short answer is a whole bunch of stuff that doesn't grow there today. The arctic had a different balance of plants when wooly mammoths were alive. They ate mostly plants called forbs or phorbs to which things like milkweed, sunflowers, and lots of small flowering plants belong. In other environments, they and the other species of mammoth that have been dug up ate sedges and similar in much the same way modern elephants do.

      To the point of combating climate change: I suppose if we rework the entire arctic to allow mammoths and other large herbivores from the Pleistocene to eat, we might also change the climate. Mammoths will certainly not do much on their own. They will be doing good to eat at all in cooler climes.

      Sources:CBCNews and the San Jose Mammoth page.

  11. Bunbury

    Diet

    Well, if the picture in the article is anything to go on then it'll be Mexican. Hope they've got sunblock.

  12. Chris G

    Tundra Colder?

    " mammoths may have kept the tundra colder."

    I can find references to people citing this study but not the study, how can Mammoths help to keep the tundra colder? I know they would probably have produced a lot of methane a greenhouse gas that would have meant whatever else they did would have to offset it's effects; did they use it as a refrigerant, bloody clever if they did.

    1. MD Rackham

      Re: Tundra Colder?

      They had a really bad habit of leaving the refrigerator door open. I think it was the tusks that got in the way.

      1. David 132 Silver badge

        Re: Tundra Colder?

        And leaving footprints in the butter.

      2. PNGuinn
        Coat

        Re: Fridge door

        Tusk, Tusk.

    2. PNGuinn
      Go

      Re: Tundra Colder?

      Have you not considered the superb insulating properties of several feet of deep frozen fluffy mammoth s**t??

      So, now you see the sense of adding a few cane toad genes - Make 'em cold blooded, so the mammoth s**t hasn't got so far to cool down.

      Oh I just LOVE real science!

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Tundra Colder?

      "[...] did they use it as a refrigerant, [...]"

      A gas at high pressure forced through a small orifice will then undergo expansion that causes a rapid drop in temperature. From my schoolboy physics - "venturi" and "adiabatic expansion".

  13. rvt

    Best excuse every to revive a mammoth which I support!

  14. Bleu

    Another announcement, another project of dubious worth

    Reviving the mammoth is more than thirty years old as an idea.

    I don't think this research comes much closer than announcements from teams with collaboration between Russia and Japan or Korea in past years.

    Maybe they can emplace the genes for hair growth and sub-cutaneous fat and switch them on, but it is on the same level as making a fruit-fly grow an eye where a leg should be, or making other insects grow antennae instead of legs (both already done), for the time being.

    As many point out, WTF is human science doing with such projects when the locust-like population growth of our species and its lack of regard for so many others keeps putting more at risk of extinction?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Another announcement, another project of dubious worth

      Gene splicing has been used for various experiments to produce variants with borrowed characteristics.

      A common one is to use the glow-in-the dark genes from a jellyfish to show that a genetic modification has worked in a mouse or similar animal.

      Web silk is impossible to farm by using large numbers of spiders. The relevant genes have been spliced into goats to produce web silk from their milk in a more manageable process.

      1. Azy

        Re: Another announcement, another project of dubious worth

        The only thing keeping people from producing web silk from large quantities of spiders is that it's cost prohibitive. Can you imagine trying to staff a spider farm with cheap, migrant workers?

        Recruiter: "So, do you have farming experience?"

        Applicant: "Yes."

        Recruiter: "Any experience with textiles?"

        Applicant: "Yes."

        Recruiter: "Great! You start immediately! Any questions?"

        Applicant: "Yes. What animals are here?"

        Recruiter: "Well, um... Okay, look, I assure you it's perfectly safe. You have nothing to worry about. But... Well... We farm spiders here."

        Applicant: "... ... AAAGGHHHH!"

        (Door slams)

        Recruiter: "I need a new job."

      2. Bunbury

        Re: Another announcement, another project of dubious worth

        you could splice those genes into mammoths too. Spider silk rope! And an automatic means of preventing the mammoths wandering off*

        *OK, we're going to need to splice the genes into the nasal glands for that one...

    2. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

      Re: Another announcement, another project of dubious worth

      Reviving the mammoth is more than thirty years old as an idea.

      And isn't what this team is trying to do, as the article explicitly makes clear.

  15. Mark 85
    Flame

    But are they tasty?

    If so, how soon will we see a Post Pub Nosh recipe? Icon for flame grilling ---------->

  16. Fink-Nottle

    Yaba-daba-doo

    Why release 'em into the wild when they could be working at the Slate Rock and Gravel Company ?

  17. x 7

    those elephants in the picture look like mastodons, not mammoths

    1. Bunbury
      Coat

      They mastadon it wrong

  18. iranu

    Dr. Alphonse Mephesto

    Mammoth and elephant DNA just won't splice.

  19. Brux Antipodeus

    @ Bleu You cant spell - theya re Hippobottomi

  20. Stevie

    Bah!

    Antipodean Archeologist: "Wait ... these are Mammoth eggs! You made Mammoths?"

    Smug Chinese Scientist: "Relax! We only made female Mammoths!"

    Rotund Scots Entrepreneur: "I really cannae see ..."

    Sounds of splintering wood, breaking glass and screaming people

    Antipodean Archeologist: "What was that?"

    Chain-Smoking Older Nerd-Type: "The fences are down!"

    Enter Blithering Mathematician: "I totally predicted this. We should run. This way ... Aaaargh!"

    Rotund Scots Entrepreneur: "Oh nae, a Mammoth has trodden on Dr Boring.

    Antipodean Archeologist: "Good!"

    And so forth.

    Attention Steven Spielberg: Gissajob!

  21. MrDamage Silver badge

    I am Vulgaris Magistralis

    Saddle up!

  22. This post has been deleted by its author

  23. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    a technique known as Crispr

    Mmmmm....Crispr Mammoth bacon!!!!

  24. eric.verhulst(Altreonic)

    This article has many "holes". Tundra cooler? Global warming (the CO2 myth, another fundraiser). Reviving mammoths? You don't get mammoths by changing a few genes in an elephants' DNA. Looks to me like someone needs attention to gets his funding flowing. They should create a price for that. idem dito for the journalist who never check their sources.

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If this carries on I really will get my dream of a bronto-burger!!

    "Wiiilmaaaaaaa!!!!"

    Steve

  26. cortland

    An ELEPHANT crisper?

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like