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krishirst krishirst
 
M$2 February 03, 2009 09:43 PM

Should scientists use cloning to save extinct animals, like the Ibex?

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nativenerd nativenerd
 
 February 03, 2009 10:25 PM
While I am all for the idea of it, I question whether or not it would be successful. In order to pull a species back from extinction, they would need a HUGE surplus of genetic material to work with. It's not a problem to clone a few, breed them out and gradually build up numbers. The problem comes from keeping them alive for more than a couple of years after that...unless they have more genetic samples than I think, or they have some other plan to deal with it, this is a single generational fix...they will have no valid mates, and any children would be EXTREMELY inbred...if they could somehow manage for a number of generations, natural mutation would help this, but I doubt they would be able to hang in there...and even if they did, I don't think they would be the same species...

Even if they have several genetic "molds" they can build from, the species is still going to have a tragically small gene pool. This exact problem is actually being faced today by the cheetah population.

http://lynx.uio.no/jon/lynx/cheetahgenes.html
"Before conducting genetic studies for Craig Packer's Lion project, I examined the genetic history of the Cheetah, whose range once spanned the globe. I was amazed to find that every one of today's 20,000 Cheetahs is genetically almost identical. They descend from survivors of a near-extinction catastrophe that resulted in generations of close inbreeding 10,000 years ago. "

Source(s):
My $0.02

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• thanks for the helpful background and reality check!


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wadebowers wadebowers
 
February 03, 2009 09:45 PM
Absolutely. This is the key to understanding Earth's history and the evolution of the species.

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nhyde nhyde
 
February 03, 2009 09:47 PM
This comes down to being a moral question you must ask yourself. Should man, play God and help bring back species from the dead? We on Mahalo cannot answer this question for you, it is something you need to ask yourself.

Personally, I am all for this - provided that the humans were the cause of the creatures extinction, which is the case with the Ibex.
Source(s):
Life.


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clarusvisu... clarusvisu...
 
February 03, 2009 09:57 PM
Everything done in the field of medicine (to name just one) could be construed as "playing God". Giving infants vaccines can be considered "playing God", as it causes countless children to not die deaths they otherwise would have, if left alone.

I've never seen how the description "playing God" has ever been cogent or relevant...have you?

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nhyde nhyde
 
February 03, 2009 10:01 PM
@clarusvisum
While I don't agree with the term Playing God - That is technically what we would be doing, no? I am all for science, I love science and hope it is given a lot more respect than it currently has, but you can't help but agree that we are 'growing' creatures that were 'meant to die'

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morriss003 morriss003
 
February 03, 2009 09:48 PM
Yes, because the alternative appears to be extinction.

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clarusvisu... clarusvisu...
 
February 03, 2009 09:54 PM

Cloning in order to study the living specimens can be a gold mine of information and research in the field of biology, but I doubt there is a value, or a real intent, to "save" in the sense that we'd clone enough of them for them to breed and be re-introduced into the wild, being given a 'second chance'--that is, unless there is a real and VERY significant (just imagine how much time, effort, and money it would take to bring a species from extinct to eminent from scratch!) benefit overall to them being 'reborn' that way.

Overall, yes, of course this should be done if it can be. Not doing so would be akin to not building a better telescope even if we had all the resources to. There's no good reason to restrain our own pursuit of knowledge when it comes to this particular subject, and I'd have hard time thinking of ethical concerns when we're talking about bringing a creature BACK TO LIFE for science.



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imsoronry imsoronry
 
February 03, 2009 10:12 PM
I agree that this should be done if for no other reason than to make restitution to the animals that man causes to be extinct. Also how many 3rd world countries could be fed if cloning was implemented on a world wide basis. There must be strict guidelines as well as an over-seeing committee of some sort but the benefits are endless

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