First clone of extinct species
February 15, 2009 6:04 PM Subscribe
In 2000, the Spanish Pyrenean Ibex (a type of mountain goat) went extinct. In early 2009 it was brought back to life, the first time an extinct species has been "successfully" cloned. The newborn bucardo died of respiratory failure minutes after birth, setting a second extinction record.
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posted by trip and a half at 6:24 PM on February 15, 2009
posted by trip and a half at 6:24 PM on February 15, 2009
Carry on and Good Luck.
Unrelated: I absolutely love that this species was hunted almost to extinction, and then killed off by a falling tree branch. Monty Pythonesque!
posted by Science! at 6:25 PM on February 15, 2009
Unrelated: I absolutely love that this species was hunted almost to extinction, and then killed off by a falling tree branch. Monty Pythonesque!
posted by Science! at 6:25 PM on February 15, 2009
This makes me incredibly sad.
posted by inconsequentialist at 6:52 PM on February 15, 2009
posted by inconsequentialist at 6:52 PM on February 15, 2009
Scientific progress? There's a lot more to be sad about in the world than incredible, if not successful, advances in science, technology and medicine.
Or are you saddened by one subspecies of goat going extinct?
posted by Science! at 7:03 PM on February 15, 2009
Or are you saddened by one subspecies of goat going extinct?
posted by Science! at 7:03 PM on February 15, 2009
Ok, cloning this goat is pretty cool, but can we pleeeease do a triceratops next?
How about Neanderthal next, then triceratops?
posted by SteveTheRed at 7:08 PM on February 15, 2009 [1 favorite]
How about Neanderthal next, then triceratops?
posted by SteveTheRed at 7:08 PM on February 15, 2009 [1 favorite]
Can't wait until we all really can have our own. personal. Jesus...es.
posted by DU at 7:12 PM on February 15, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by DU at 7:12 PM on February 15, 2009 [2 favorites]
It is so amazing that people can do this kind of thing.
Why do we need magic when we can resurrect species?
Tasmanian Tiger next please.
posted by sien at 7:26 PM on February 15, 2009
Why do we need magic when we can resurrect species?
Tasmanian Tiger next please.
posted by sien at 7:26 PM on February 15, 2009
We may end up with woolly mammoth's cloned, since I think there are pretty well-preserved DNA from it. I'm not sure if bringing back a Neanderthal is a good ideal, what if it mates with our wimmin!?
posted by delmoi at 7:55 PM on February 15, 2009
posted by delmoi at 7:55 PM on February 15, 2009
setting a second extinction record
My wife's sip of wine shot out of her nose when I read this to her. Cool!
posted by five fresh fish at 8:01 PM on February 15, 2009
My wife's sip of wine shot out of her nose when I read this to her. Cool!
posted by five fresh fish at 8:01 PM on February 15, 2009
setting a second extinction record
So now we're thinking of species longevity almost in terms of their half life. We can always synthesize moe Ibexium.
posted by sourwookie at 8:26 PM on February 15, 2009
So now we're thinking of species longevity almost in terms of their half life. We can always synthesize moe Ibexium.
posted by sourwookie at 8:26 PM on February 15, 2009
Please bring back an entire league of Ted Williams clones.
posted by popechunk at 8:39 PM on February 15, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by popechunk at 8:39 PM on February 15, 2009 [1 favorite]
.2
posted by peacay at 8:54 PM on February 15, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by peacay at 8:54 PM on February 15, 2009 [2 favorites]
Wow.
It will be awesome if we can baffle future alien paleontologists by bringing back something that went extinct before the Triassic.
On a semi-related note to my own comment, once while looking at an outcrop in Wyoming a dude drove by in a truck with two bloodhounds in the back and asked us why were were looking at the rocks so hard, so we said 'we're geologists' and he replied like he'd been waiting to his whole life with "GOD PUT THOSE THERE TO CONFUSE YOU". I thought he had a pretty interesting concept of God but I've learned through the years that it's a pretty standard one. God really must not have much better to do.
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 9:00 PM on February 15, 2009 [1 favorite]
It will be awesome if we can baffle future alien paleontologists by bringing back something that went extinct before the Triassic.
On a semi-related note to my own comment, once while looking at an outcrop in Wyoming a dude drove by in a truck with two bloodhounds in the back and asked us why were were looking at the rocks so hard, so we said 'we're geologists' and he replied like he'd been waiting to his whole life with "GOD PUT THOSE THERE TO CONFUSE YOU". I thought he had a pretty interesting concept of God but I've learned through the years that it's a pretty standard one. God really must not have much better to do.
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 9:00 PM on February 15, 2009 [1 favorite]
As I read somewhere else, this species was hated by mankind so much that we killed it to extincion, then brought it back to live just so we could kill it again.
posted by sebas at 10:09 PM on February 15, 2009
posted by sebas at 10:09 PM on February 15, 2009
Anyone else think of Alien 4 when Sigourney Weaver enters the medical lab with all the failed Alien cloning experiments? Shoot me!
posted by furtive at 10:28 PM on February 15, 2009
posted by furtive at 10:28 PM on February 15, 2009
Should we resurrect the Neanderthals?
Wow, that's an awful lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth at Slate. Particularly over something that strikes me as so obvious; of course we should resurrect the Neanderthals. Yes, they'll almost certainly be smart enough as to require recognition as having the same rights as you or me. So what? They're people. If humans went extinct I'd sure hope whatever species replaced us would bring us back at some point.
In fact, I'd argue there is a moral imperative that requires us to bring the Neanderthals back as soon as feasible.
posted by Justinian at 10:56 PM on February 15, 2009 [3 favorites]
Wow, that's an awful lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth at Slate. Particularly over something that strikes me as so obvious; of course we should resurrect the Neanderthals. Yes, they'll almost certainly be smart enough as to require recognition as having the same rights as you or me. So what? They're people. If humans went extinct I'd sure hope whatever species replaced us would bring us back at some point.
In fact, I'd argue there is a moral imperative that requires us to bring the Neanderthals back as soon as feasible.
posted by Justinian at 10:56 PM on February 15, 2009 [3 favorites]
In fact, I'd argue there is a moral imperative that requires us to bring the Neanderthals back as soon as feasible.
I agree completely. Wouldn't it be amazing if they could not only talk, but expressed strong opinions about how we have screwed things up, starting with killing them off?
posted by SteveTheRed at 2:55 AM on February 16, 2009
I agree completely. Wouldn't it be amazing if they could not only talk, but expressed strong opinions about how we have screwed things up, starting with killing them off?
posted by SteveTheRed at 2:55 AM on February 16, 2009
Note: I don't know if we literally killed them off, but our track record ain't that great.
posted by SteveTheRed at 2:57 AM on February 16, 2009
posted by SteveTheRed at 2:57 AM on February 16, 2009
Tasmanian Tiger next please.
posted by sien
I second this motion. All in favor?
posted by Windigo at 4:28 AM on February 16, 2009
posted by sien
I second this motion. All in favor?
posted by Windigo at 4:28 AM on February 16, 2009
Instead of cloning, I want science to make really small versions of big animals. I want a tiny elephant that can walk around on my coffee table, a gorilla I can hold in my hand, a hippo that I can play with in the bathtub... We need a whole branch of science dedicated to making cute things.
posted by grumblebee at 6:49 AM on February 16, 2009 [3 favorites]
posted by grumblebee at 6:49 AM on February 16, 2009 [3 favorites]
Bring the Quaggas back? I just took care of them!
posted by FatherDagon at 8:56 AM on February 16, 2009
posted by FatherDagon at 8:56 AM on February 16, 2009
There is some speculation that Neanderthals did mate with our wimmin already.
Given that Neanderthals had a larger cranial capacity than even modern humans, they may be better adapted to modern lifestyles then we are.
If we successfully cloned a Neanderthals and they had equal rights, what would we do with the first one cloned? Would we deny him/her freedom?
Depending on the size of your coffee table that may be a possibility grumblebee, I know elephants have been as small as a meter tall (Southern Italy area), currently the Borneo elephant is ~ 2.5 meters.
But, of course cloning neanderthals and dinosaurs and other long extinct species is much harder as there little to no complete DNA sequence evidence left, even if we go the fanciful fly-in-amber route. The Ibex is near perfect for this type of attempt as there is bound to be an abundance of complete DNA left around. Which I think is the real benefit of this technology, not to resurrect long lost species, but potentially preserve what we have as we move into (and hopefully through) a more volatile global system. We will see a lot of die back in the next few hundred years, hopefully we finally emerge from it a bit wiser and with the genetic stock to rebuilt ecosystems.
posted by edgeways at 9:34 AM on February 16, 2009
Given that Neanderthals had a larger cranial capacity than even modern humans, they may be better adapted to modern lifestyles then we are.
If we successfully cloned a Neanderthals and they had equal rights, what would we do with the first one cloned? Would we deny him/her freedom?
Depending on the size of your coffee table that may be a possibility grumblebee, I know elephants have been as small as a meter tall (Southern Italy area), currently the Borneo elephant is ~ 2.5 meters.
But, of course cloning neanderthals and dinosaurs and other long extinct species is much harder as there little to no complete DNA sequence evidence left, even if we go the fanciful fly-in-amber route. The Ibex is near perfect for this type of attempt as there is bound to be an abundance of complete DNA left around. Which I think is the real benefit of this technology, not to resurrect long lost species, but potentially preserve what we have as we move into (and hopefully through) a more volatile global system. We will see a lot of die back in the next few hundred years, hopefully we finally emerge from it a bit wiser and with the genetic stock to rebuilt ecosystems.
posted by edgeways at 9:34 AM on February 16, 2009
Guys, guys, what happened to the wooly mammoth I was promised? And sure, you can make it a miniature wooly mammoth, if you'd prefer. I'd like that.
posted by redsparkler at 10:19 AM on February 16, 2009
posted by redsparkler at 10:19 AM on February 16, 2009
a hippo that I can play with in the bathtub
Now featuring on PornTube...
posted by five fresh fish at 5:17 PM on February 16, 2009
Now featuring on PornTube...
posted by five fresh fish at 5:17 PM on February 16, 2009
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