Sometimes I read the science news and just scratch my head. It is really going to be possible to clone an extent mammoth? A couple of scientists from Japan think they have a technique. My question is... Is it ethical?
Cloning mammoths would probably be tougher, since the temperatures of the frozen carcasses have fluctuated a lot over tens of thousands of years. If good DNA could be found, donor eggs could be used from Asian elephants, close relatives of mammoths. (African elephants are more distantly related.)
On the surface, I cannot come up with a good argument against cloning a mammoth. That does not mean that doing so is ethical. I simply do not have enough information at this time. I will need to think about it (I say that a lot these days).
I like to see science news tempered by ethical discussions, especially science that crosses into science fiction. Of course, I would line up to see the first cloned mammoth just like the next guy.
