Friday, April 10, 2015

The Quest to ressurect Extinct Species

A wealthy businessman has convinced a father and son, both experts in genetics, to leave their current research position in order to try and resurrect the species "Woolly Mammoth".  After Doing so the plan is to create a 150 acre park where people can pay to come observe the newly resurrected species.  Now if this didn't sound enough like the novel/movie "Jurassic Park" yet, the DNA being used to attempt this project was found found in a fly fossilized in amber.

Although they do not fully know exactly how to recreate this species yet, they believe they may be close to figuring it out.  However, just as some of the characters in the novel/movie thought we should be asking "should we do this?", rather than "can we do this?", which inevitably turned out to be "no we should not", in the fictional context of "Jurassic Park".  The consequences of adding another species to an ecosystem that has been without that species for such a long period of time could have drastic effects.  Not even considering the dangers that were depicted in the novel/movie, the burden placed on the ecosystem trying to feed a population of such enormous herbivores does not seem like it could be sustainable for very long

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