I am sure scientists and government must have
been really bored and have nothing better to do if they decide to spend another chunk of taxpayers' money on such a project. Once they reproduce the first mammoths, the next natural step would be to open mammoth sperm banks, and ask mammoth sperm donors to fill out these long forms before they 'donate' their sperm by buckets to keep the reproduction going. Just for the sake of science, you know, because mammoths are cool. Mammoths are cool indeed, but where are the cures long-promised to us by scientists and government - cures for AIDS and cancer? Wouldn't it be much 'cooler' to spend more money and efforts on finding cures for AIDS and cancer rather than on some frozen sperm hunt and then insemination of some poor living creatures?
While it isn't Jurassic Park, scientists are looking into the prospect of using sperm from frozen mammoth bodies for artificial insemination. They have succeeded with mice, using frozen sperm as old as 15 years. They now are moving towards experiments with numerous frozen mammoths found in Siberia. In the study, the success rate with donor sperm was higher than anticipated. Frozen sperm commonly is used in sperm banks, the sperm used in these experiments was taken from animals who were frozen in their entirety. The thought is that if sperm can be taken from frozen and extinct animal species, the sperm might be injected into donor eggs from females of closely related animals. A paper on the research was presented at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Thus far, intact and frozen mammoth bodies have been found in the Siberian permafrost. The experiments on mice was held at the Institute for Reproductive Studies in Scottsdale, Arizona, according to the center's director Dr. Robert W. McGaughey. Dr. Douglas Chandler of Arizona State University's School of Life Sciences indicated that brining back extinct animals in this manner was an interesting prospect. He noted that the trick is to find an acceptable mother. He noted that it is unlikely that donor eggs could have survived even though sperm may have done so. |
