The First Step Towards De-Extinction

In a recent article, scientists have been experimenting with "woolly mice", to help with the progression of bringing back the woolly mammoth. Obviously a mouse and an elephant are nowhere close to being the same animal, but scientists have been altering mice genes to include genes of a woolly mammoth. Such as the gene to enhance hair growth, and the gene responsible for the golden color that mammoths had. Scientists acquired the specific genes they needed, from 121 mammoth and elephant samples. They managed to create 32 different woolly mice, all varying slightly in appearance. 

It will be many more years, until we might see the return of woolly mammoths. However we could see the return of the dodo bird much sooner, according to Beth Shapiro. She explains that it will be much easier to alter the genetics of an animal that comes from an egg, rather than an animal that requires a surrogate mother, like an elephant.

   

I thought that this article was very interesting, because it talks about the idea of de-extinction. I feel like for as long as I can remember, the idea of bringing back extinct animals was always so unobtainable. Now, with the creation of woolly mice, we see that this is not the case, and in the next couple of years, we might even start seeing the return of animals that have been extinct for many years.