• Question: Do you think it’s possible to bring back to life extinct animals?

    Asked by Olivia-de-Larratea to Ben, Lizzie, Francis, Max, Sian on 6 Mar 2018.
    • Photo: Max Jamilly

      Max Jamilly answered on 6 Mar 2018:

      It would AWESOME if we could because I want a pet dodo! Jurassic Park seems unlikely but we could do something similar. We know what the genes in some extinct animals looked like (wooly mammoths, for example) and we know how to build genes from scratch, so perhaps we could build a mammoth sperm and a mammoth egg and fertilise them. But where would we grow the fertilised egg – maybe an elephant?

    • Photo: Ben Mulhearn

      Ben Mulhearn answered on 7 Mar 2018:

      Theoretically I would like to say YES – we have the tools to manipulate DNA now, and we are able to transfer DNA from cells and place it into new eggs. But, as Max said, where would be grow the newly resurrected extinct animal!?

    • Photo: Lizzie Wright

      Lizzie Wright answered on 10 Mar 2018:

      Yes, this is very complex. Theoretically yes, but practically and ethically, it would be difficult. We also don’t know what effect bringing an extinct animal back would have on our ecosystem.

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