Horserider
11-19-2008, 04:58 PM
http://www.informationweek.com/news/business_intelligence/mining/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212100912&subSection=News
"Just in time for global warming, scientists have sequenced the genome of the extinct woolly mammoth, last seen roaming the Earth about 10,000 years ago and in cudgel-and-sandals films like 10,000 BC.
"Previous studies on extinct organisms have generated only small amounts of data," said Stephan C. Schuster, the Penn State University biochemistry professor who co-authored the new research, in a statement. "Our data set is 100 times more extensive than any other published data set for an extinct species, demonstrating that ancient DNA studies can be brought up to the same level as modern genome projects."
Schuster told The Associated Press that eventually it should be possible to re-create any extinct creature that lived within the last 100,000 years, given suitable genetic material.
That appears to preclude the sort of dinosaur theme park depicted in the film Jurassic Park -- the Jurassic period spanned from about 206 million to 144 million years ago.
However, Pleistocene Park has potential -- think saber-toothed tigers, giant ground sloths, and Neanderthal tour guides.
"[B]y deciphering this genome we could, in theory, generate data that one day may help other researchers to bring the woolly mammoth back to life by inserting the uniquely mammoth DNA sequences into the genome of the modern-day elephant," Schuster said in a statement. "This would allow scientists to retrieve the genetic information that was believed to have been lost when the mammoth died out, as well as to bring back an extinct species that modern humans have missed meeting by only a few thousand years."
I really don't think we really need to meet woolly mammoths. Imagine them escaping and running around. You probably can't just tranquilize them like we do zoo and wild animals when they wander into cities and towns.
"Just in time for global warming, scientists have sequenced the genome of the extinct woolly mammoth, last seen roaming the Earth about 10,000 years ago and in cudgel-and-sandals films like 10,000 BC.
"Previous studies on extinct organisms have generated only small amounts of data," said Stephan C. Schuster, the Penn State University biochemistry professor who co-authored the new research, in a statement. "Our data set is 100 times more extensive than any other published data set for an extinct species, demonstrating that ancient DNA studies can be brought up to the same level as modern genome projects."
Schuster told The Associated Press that eventually it should be possible to re-create any extinct creature that lived within the last 100,000 years, given suitable genetic material.
That appears to preclude the sort of dinosaur theme park depicted in the film Jurassic Park -- the Jurassic period spanned from about 206 million to 144 million years ago.
However, Pleistocene Park has potential -- think saber-toothed tigers, giant ground sloths, and Neanderthal tour guides.
"[B]y deciphering this genome we could, in theory, generate data that one day may help other researchers to bring the woolly mammoth back to life by inserting the uniquely mammoth DNA sequences into the genome of the modern-day elephant," Schuster said in a statement. "This would allow scientists to retrieve the genetic information that was believed to have been lost when the mammoth died out, as well as to bring back an extinct species that modern humans have missed meeting by only a few thousand years."
I really don't think we really need to meet woolly mammoths. Imagine them escaping and running around. You probably can't just tranquilize them like we do zoo and wild animals when they wander into cities and towns.