Should We Attempt To Bring Back (Clone) The Extinct Tasmanian Tiger?

[TheWizardOfMudd]

This was the last living Tasmanian Tiger in Australia. It died 65 years ago.



Scientists have access to preserved TT pups, as this one:



As most of you probably know, cloning the TT would require:

1. Extracting intact DNA from the cells of the preserved pup;

2. Placing the DNA in an artificial cell membrane;

3. Transferring the enclosed DNA into the live cell of some other animal, and;

4. Growing it in the womb of a surrogate host.

There is much debate in the scientific community as to whether this process will even work. However . . . .

Is this a good idea? Is it nice to mess with mother nature? Should the cloning of the Tasmanian Tiger even be attempted?

[sallyseven]

1. Cloning is ok as long as we don't clone bush.

[sallyseven]

2. Cloning is ok as long as we don't clone bush.

[Carl Brennan]

31. Some things said are worth repeating.

:D

[LifeDuringWartime]

3. looks like it died from malnourishment!

certainly would be an interesting experiment. jurassic park here we come ;)

[Taverner]

4. Why not?

We've sent so many species into extinction, why not bring some back?

[daveskilt]

5. sure why not -

then they can bring back other extinct species - the compassionate conservative, the polite frenchman and the sober irishman.

[happyending]

6. yes

What is the use of science if we cannot revive extict species?

[Taverner]

7. Why not?

We've sent so many species into extinction, why not bring some back?

[NMDemDist2]

8. i saw a bit on that on a show a few months ago

I thought it was a great idea :-)

[Vickers]

9. Sure, I think it's a great idea.

They have been able to breed some species back in to existence (some kind of cattle I think?). Seems like a good idea.

Plus, it's playing God, so it will piss off some folks who need pissing off.

[KissMyAsscroft]

10. No...

It's ugly.

[TheWizardOfMudd]

11. Yes, but . . .

. . . it could probably keep burglars away from your home.

[TexasMexican]

30. I wonder if they could be domesticated?

I wonder if anyone tried?

[TheWizardOfMudd]

36. I wonder, too

But domestication may not be necessary before using the TT as a palace guard. We could put them in harnesses connected to pressure regulated chains that would not allow the creatures to injure themselves.



They would have the ability to bark, growl, and extend to the outer edges of the front and back yards. Pretty scary.

Sure, we'd have to train them not to eat poison meat and cover them in body armor. Also, we could have a monitor hooked up that would set off an alarm if their hearts stopped beating.

Just an idea.

[MoonRiver]

12. If we can do it we definitely should!

This could be the answer to man's extinction of so many plants and animals. I just hope that when we bring them back we won't stupidly exterminate them again. But I suppose that's asking for too much. :eyes:

[JanMichael]

13. We probably killed them off...Perhaps we're obligated to try to bring...

...them back.

Personally I hate the fact that we've created this dillemma in the first place.

[TheWizardOfMudd]

14. Yes we did

They were hunted to extinction.

[yardwork]

15. Can we trade George II for it?

I'll even toss in Cheney.

[JanMichael]

16. The LAST of a species. How magnificently sad.

Left to die without ever seeing another of it's kind..

[disgruntled_goat]

17. we're not doing a good job

with the current extant species on earth. what are the current figures? how many $%$# thousand species are being wiped off the earth every day/mont/whatever?

in a way, these 'ugly-ass tigers' are more secure than many other species if we have all the means to 'reeurect' them at our leisure.

If we ever collectively get our shit together as a species, THAT'S when we do it.

having said all that, I say now, "If that's a tiger, I'll eat a shoe cake like Tucker Carlson"

d_g

[LTR]

18. One thing to consider

Would re-introducing a species disrupt the food chain?

There are countless stories of non-native species introduced to an environment and knocking everything out of whack.

Fooling with mother nature is risky business.

[Zookeeper]

19. Well, it wouldn't necessarily be a horrible thing to do....

but I question whether there is still a suitable natural environment to introduce it back into. Do we want to make "new ones" just so we can have them in zoos? Will it serve a purpose beyond satisfying our curiosity?

And could the resources put into such an endeavor be better applied elsewhere?

[TheWizardOfMudd]

20. I selfishly wish we could bring back the Dodo Bird

At the time of the Dodo Bird's existence, people wrote, including Ben Franklin, that the Dodo Bird was by far the best fowl to eat. More moist and tasty than chicken or turkey.

I WANT A DODO BIRD FOR THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!! :(

[kodi]

21. yeap, then we thaw out ted williams' head so the sox can win a series

.

[Tom Kitten]

22. why not indeed?

A rather impressive animal, when I was a kid in the 60s it was not quite yet considered definitely extinct due to some credible sightings and footprints found...It was able to open its jaws much wider than any dog or wolf, as this rendition shows...


Here's a good link for some quick info...

http://www.amonline.net.au/thylacine/

If it is possible I say why not? They were considering cloning a woolly mammoth a few years ago.

[Yupster]

23. Absolutely

I read the Russians were going to try to clone a mammoth not too long ago also.

Great idea.

[opihimoimoi]

25. Can we also thaw out Reason and Sanity too?

They been frozen too long.

[TexasMexican]

24. Sure...

Infact I've always thought it would be cool if we could digitally store the DNA sequences of as many different plants/animals/whatever as possible for future generations.

So that if we fuck up future generations could either try to bring something back, or atleast study it for whatever.

[SoCalDem]

26. Where would it live?? In a zoo?? In a preserve??

Why resurrect an extinct animal, just so we can "look at it"?? I would rather see resources spent on preserving wild places for the animals who have managed to survive our attempts to extinguish their kind..

Just because we can theorhetically DO something, does not mean we SHOULD..

[TexasMexican]

29. Sell them as pets and you get the money flowing in...

I kid but only partially, we will eventually have GM pets someday, I've already heard of I think it was japanese scientists selling some fish that have been genetically engineered to glow a certain color under blacklight.

Anyways I dont see a problem with some going into a zoo, or a preserve, or even being reintroduced into the wild after some study.

I think we should do this so we can have the knowledge to bring back certain animals should the need and want arise.

[Djinn]

27. Couple of problems

apart from the massively receding Tasmanian forests, (see http://www.acfonline.org.au/asp/pages/intro.asp?State=TAS) there's the issue of whether re-introducing the tiger would negatively affect some other endangered species currntly living there.

I think many of man's mistakes have been made with the best intentions at heart - this could be another

[Liberal Classic]

28. Interesting conjecture

However, the devil's always in the details. Extracting useful DNA would certianly be the main problem. Preserved to the naked eye does not mean preserved at the cellular level. I believe some fossil animals have been partially sequenced, however, assembling a "complete" genome from such historical samples has yet to be done. In addition to the problem of determining which sequences are valid, there are some areas on the genome that are impossible for us to sequence with the current technology.

If you want to make the hypothetical argument, then the next question becomes what to do with the animal. Generally speaking, the large marsupials tend to be displaced by more modern placental mammals whenever they meet. In all likelihood, the cloned animal would have to be raised in a zoo because it would be too valueable to release into the wild. If we're saying that we can repopulate extinct species, this is an entirely different question than being able to clone one animal. All the same, one must consider that were Australia connected to Asia by a land bridge, it is highly likely the Tazmanian Tiger would have been extinct long before now.

[iangb]

32. Thylacines (Tas Tigers) went extinct...

.....on the Australian mainland relatively recently........less than 5,000 years ago. It's thought that the spread of Dingoes (an Asian dog species) introduced from Indonesia some few thousand years ago combined with an increasingly dry climate across the mainland caused thylacines to die out.

The species survived on the island of Tasmania until the late 1930's.....although there are still sporadic reported sightings to this day.

Scientists believe that thylacines were under great pressure before European settlement and that hunting by settlers simply accelerated their demise.

[Liberal Classic]

35. Thank you for the correction

That what I get for trying to do geography after midnight.

[WLKjr]

33. This Tiger

looks like it died out for a reason. Not saying cloning is bad or anything, but maybe it was supposed to happen that it would go extinct?

but what do I know...

[iangb]

34. Meanwhile the Tasmanian Devil is in....

.....serious shit. http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/wildlife/mammals/devil.html

<snip>
Devil Disease: A devastating disease is sweeping through Tasmania's devil population, killing more than 90% of adults in high density areas and 40-50% in medium-low density areas. See the Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment's web pages for details. <snip>

Fortunately they are still relatively healthy around here.