Genetically modified mice have traits geared towards cold tolerance, in step towards modifying elephants
  • Hemingways_Shotgun@lemmy.caEnglish
    723·
    6 days ago

    Can I be nit-picky here for a second?

    If you’re genetically modifying an elephant for cold tolerance and fur growth, you’re not “bring a mammoth back from extinction”, you’re creating a furry elephant. It may look somewhat like a mammoth, but genetically it’s not a mammoth at all.

    It’s like saying you can genetically modify a homo-sapien to have a pronounced brow ridge and a hairier back and say that you’ve brought the neandertal back from extinction. No you haven’t, you’ve just designed a human who looks different.

    • go $fsck yourself@lemmy.worldEnglish
      22·
      5 days ago

      Well, the goal isn’t to just create woolly mammoth-lile creatures by copying characteristics. The goal is to recreate the genome from what genome data we have into a living creature.

      It’s not like they are trying to create a sweded version, but take a creature that is already close and change the genes to match.

      At least, that’s how I understood it based on the article.

    • Silic0n_Alph4@lemmy.worldEnglish
      10·
      5 days ago

      And next you’ll say that genetically-modified ears aren’t enough to make catgirls real either 😩

      Can we let this one go? Not for science, not for accuracy, but for the prospect of having catgirls in our lifetimes, at least?

  • mcqtom@lemmy.worldEnglish
    21·
    5 days ago

    This was wise. They had to create the woolly mice so that when they create the woolly mammoths, they can woolly control them.

  • fiendishplan@lemmy.worldEnglish
    12·
    5 days ago

    The 15ft tall 8,000 pound mouse was last seen rampaging in the downtown area. OK that’s what I wanted the article to say.

  • jsomae@lemmy.mlEnglish
    9·
    5 days ago

    I am skeptical of all articles with “scientists” in the title… but those mice are really cute. 😙

  • the_q@lemm.eeEnglish
    82·
    5 days ago

    Why? How about focusing on preventing more extinctions instead of some Jurassic Park bullshit.

    • wolframhydroxide@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      1·
      3 days ago

      IIRC, the primary reason we’re even going with this route is that one of the primary things stabilizing the arctic permafrost was actually the presence of snow-wading megafauna changing the rate of heat dissipation in high-wind tundras. So, they’re trying to bring the wooly mammoth back to try to keep more permafrost around.

      ETA: Here’s the company actually saying this is the primary reason for doing it. Its about restoring the biodiversity loss from humans being an all-around virus for the last 10000 years.

    • Alteon@lemmy.worldEnglish
      17·
      5 days ago

      We already know how to prevent more extinctions. Better environmental laws, more green spaces, better conservation efforts, less suburban sprawl, etc. You know, things that will never happen.

  • intensely_human@lemm.eeEnglish
    71·
    5 days ago

    This means they’re gonna make wooly elephants and try to make us call them woolly mammoths.