Japanese Scientists on Verge of Cloning Woolly Mammoths

“Jurassic Park” it may not be, but what if you could visit a real zoo where prehistoric animals — cloned from long-frozen tissues — were on display? Daily Tech picked up a story about a Japanese scientist, Akira Iritani of Tokyo University, who has perfected the technique of cloning animals from long-frozen tissues.

The article reveals that attempts to clone mammoths have been ongoing since the 1990s. One has to wonder what other ancient creatures may be cloned: maybe Aurochs, maybe giant sloths, maybe saber-tooth cats?

And if we can clone animals, how long will it be before we clone Neanderthals or other ancient humans? Where will experimental cloning stop?

It makes a certain sense to use cloning techniques to restore some lost species that recently died out (maybe the Passenger Pigeon, for example). But if the habitats that supported such animals no longer exist or are on the verge of extinction, then it doesn’t make much sense to try to recover lost species.

Maybe if we can reach another nearby star system that has Earth-like planets ripe for terraforming we might consider building prehistoric ecosystems for new colonies. But such technological breakthroughs are probably at least 100 years away, maybe 2-300 years.