Will the mammoth live again?

Wow! In a few years, we may be able to see the mammoth and the sabertooth tiger. Now that Japanese scientists have produced clones of mice that have been dead and frozen for 16 years, they are thinking that one day,they could resurrect long-extinct species, such as the mammoth. At http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/11/04/japan.mouse.clone/index.html, they write about ths new discovery. Until now, scientists have only been able to produce clones using cells from living animals. The latest research shows that scientists have overcome the obstacle that stopped them from doing further research. Researchers in Kobe, Japan used cells from mice that had been frozen for 16 years at -20 degree Celsius. The researchers followed a number of steps and were able to clone the mice. A researcher says and I quote,"This is the first time a mammal has been cloned from a sample stored at conditions reasonably close to what might be expected in permafrost". In an article published in http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=6173283, the researchers have a different thought and I quote,"However, it has been suggested that the 'resurrection' of frozen extinct species (such as the woolly mammoth) is impracticable, as no live cells are available,and the genomic material that remains is inevitably degraded". Last year, Russian scientists discovered the body of a baby mammoth frozen in the Arctic Yamalo-Nenetsk region. These scientists are thinking of cloning the mammoth's cells since many of the animals are preserved in ice. Depending on the results, they will clone other extinct animals.

I think that this discovery will lead science in a different direction. I also think that if this experiment on the mammoth works,more scientists are going to start cloning other extinct animals like the sabertooth tiger and the dodo. By reading these two articles, I have learned about how you can recreate an animal. This fact makes me ponder more to learn about genetics. It is interesting to know that as technology improves, our studies and research in science progresses further. We uncover facts that we haven't been sure about, now, we are able to clear those doubts and move on.