The first dire wolf in 10,000 years...
Discussion
I just stumbled across the below article which I found fascinating. I've read other snippets regarding this and/or similar projects and am conflicted about whether they are a good thing or not (as mentioned in the article there's always the 'law of unintended consequences' which frequently bites us on the arse)
https://time.com/7274542/colossal-dire-wolf/?utm_t...
https://time.com/7274542/colossal-dire-wolf/?utm_t...
It's all a bit Jurassic Park, but very interesting and 'cool' as the same time. I have to admit I thought Dire Wolves only existing in Game of Thrones.
As said in the article, they didn't go extinct because of Humans, but because they didn't adapt to the end of an Ice Age 10k years ago, so they'll only ever be a curiosity. Unless of course they face the same fate as Tigers in the US and kept by nutters in cages and cross-bred for s
ts and giggles.
As said in the article, they didn't go extinct because of Humans, but because they didn't adapt to the end of an Ice Age 10k years ago, so they'll only ever be a curiosity. Unless of course they face the same fate as Tigers in the US and kept by nutters in cages and cross-bred for s
ts and giggles. Seems a great idea, they aren't going to run amock if confined to a remote enclosure, far less on an issue that say Pit bulls.
How and why is this all financed though?
As for future developments. Mammoths sound promising, maybe Dodos if the DNA is available (and a big enough pigeon to lay the eggs). There have already been attempts to recreate Aurochs so someone is going to use this technique sooner or later.
Neanderthals would presumably cause a few issues with the ethics committee.
How and why is this all financed though?
As for future developments. Mammoths sound promising, maybe Dodos if the DNA is available (and a big enough pigeon to lay the eggs). There have already been attempts to recreate Aurochs so someone is going to use this technique sooner or later.
Neanderthals would presumably cause a few issues with the ethics committee.
Amazing that they can do this, it will be even more amazing if they can bring back the woolly mammoth but I can't imagine that the life that it would live could ever be fulfilling for it.
The effect that this technology will have on near extinct species will be amazing. Imagine the last remaining White Rhino being introduced to an engineered Rhino that it could mate with.
I find it hard to believe that this technology hasn't already been used by some narcissistic billionaire to create a clone of themselves.
The effect that this technology will have on near extinct species will be amazing. Imagine the last remaining White Rhino being introduced to an engineered Rhino that it could mate with.
I find it hard to believe that this technology hasn't already been used by some narcissistic billionaire to create a clone of themselves.
There was an Infinite Monkey Cage on about this kind of thing recently https://www.bbc.com/audio/play/m0025dvn
One point they made is that any animal "brought back from extinction" isn't actually that animal at all, its the closest living equivalent that's been modified to be fairly similar to the original (discussion on Mammoths rather than Dire Wolves). What it does do though is bring in lots of funding to help improve techniques that are more useful.
One point they made is that any animal "brought back from extinction" isn't actually that animal at all, its the closest living equivalent that's been modified to be fairly similar to the original (discussion on Mammoths rather than Dire Wolves). What it does do though is bring in lots of funding to help improve techniques that are more useful.
RizzoTheRat said:
There was an Infinite Monkey Cage on about this kind of thing recently https://www.bbc.com/audio/play/m0025dvn
One point they made is that any animal "brought back from extinction" isn't actually that animal at all, its the closest living equivalent that's been modified to be fairly similar to the original (discussion on Mammoths rather than Dire Wolves). What it does do though is bring in lots of funding to help improve techniques that are more useful.
There is an important distinction here between modifying a modern animal using genetic engineering (or selective breeding) so that it looks like a distant relative, and modifying the genes to be the same as that distant relative. This seems to be the second category, although according to Matt Ridley only some of the relevant genes were modified. In principle an animal genetically identical to a Mammoth is a Mammoth.One point they made is that any animal "brought back from extinction" isn't actually that animal at all, its the closest living equivalent that's been modified to be fairly similar to the original (discussion on Mammoths rather than Dire Wolves). What it does do though is bring in lots of funding to help improve techniques that are more useful.
Austin Prefect said:
In principle an animal genetically identical to a Mammoth is a Mammoth.
Agreed, but only about 80% of the mammoth's genome is known, and even then we (or rather they, because I really don't have a clue) don't know what a lot of the genome does. In the case of the Dire Wolves it looks like they modified a few bits of grey wolf DNA to make it look more like a Dire WolfRizzoTheRat said:
Austin Prefect said:
In principle an animal genetically identical to a Mammoth is a Mammoth.
Agreed, but only about 80% of the mammoth's genome is known, and even then we (or rather they, because I really don't have a clue) don't know what a lot of the genome does. In the case of the Dire Wolves it looks like they modified a few bits of grey wolf DNA to make it look more like a Dire WolfRizzoTheRat said:
Agreed, but only about 80% of the mammoth's genome is known, and even then we (or rather they, because I really don't have a clue) don't know what a lot of the genome does. In the case of the Dire Wolves it looks like they modified a few bits of grey wolf DNA to make it look more like a Dire Wolf
A bit more to it than that, they did examine real Dire wolf DNA and modified the grey wolf DNA to match it. No doubt they paid most attention to the genes affecting appearance and size. But the same technique could be used to produce a complete dire wolf, that's what's exciting.RizzoTheRat said:
Austin Prefect said:
In principle an animal genetically identical to a Mammoth is a Mammoth.
Agreed, but only about 80% of the mammoth's genome is known, and even then we (or rather they, because I really don't have a clue) don't know what a lot of the genome does. In the case of the Dire Wolves it looks like they modified a few bits of grey wolf DNA to make it look more like a Dire WolfJ4CKO said:
RizzoTheRat said:
Austin Prefect said:
In principle an animal genetically identical to a Mammoth is a Mammoth.
Agreed, but only about 80% of the mammoth's genome is known, and even then we (or rather they, because I really don't have a clue) don't know what a lot of the genome does. In the case of the Dire Wolves it looks like they modified a few bits of grey wolf DNA to make it look more like a Dire WolfSkodillac said:
adrian would know as he writes pretty good sci fi -looks like modified present day wolf with some dire wolf genes spliced in-interesting thoughrichhead said:
Things die out because they couldnt exist, why would they be able to now?
things evolve, and sometimes things just dont work.
They went extinct because North American Horses went extinct and Bison declined so they couldn't find enough to eat. No reason they couldn't survive now in a zoo or safari park scenario.things evolve, and sometimes things just dont work.
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