Hello, Jurassic Park called...

Itsnotgonnaspankitself... · 09-26-2008, 02:28 PM

They want their idea back.

So, a group of scientists in British Columbia, Canada (aka: God's Country...and, fittingly, where I was born) have decided to 'play God' and attempt to bring back an extinct species.

Now, on one hand, I think this is totally cool from a scientific perspective...but, on the other hand, man is attempting to upset the balance (yet again) by introducing a new balance to whatever environment this newly recreated species will inhabit.

So...maybe we could make 'em, and then kill 'em all off again...you know, to keep things even...

At any rate here's the article...

Itsnotgonnaspankitself... · 09-26-2008, 02:29 PM

B.C. scientist part of global group trying to bring back extinct tortoise species
24/09/2008 6:53:00 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

VANCOUVER - A British Columbia geneticist is among a group of international scientists trying to bring back an extinct giant tortoise that disappeared over a century ago.

Camille Bains, THE CANADIAN PRESS
The scientists hope to breed generations of "strange" animals that are a hybrid of the extinct species and another.

Michael Russello, of the Centre for Species at Risk and Habitat Studies at the Okanagan campus of the University of B.C., said the lost tortoises once found on the Galapagos island of Floreana were believed exterminated in the mid-1800s through intense harvesting.

He said researchers have extracted DNA samples from specimens of the extinct animals collected by early biologists and stored at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Ma.

By comparing the DNA material from the lost tortoise species, called geochelone elephantopus, to about 30 of tortoises on Galapagos island of Isabela, scientists have learned the two species are genetically related.

Their findings of the scientists, which included Russello and colleagues from Yale University, Australia's Macquarie University and Italy's University of Florence, were published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Russello said scientists became interested in the Isabela Island tortoises because they just looked so strange.

"They don't look like they belong there, in that looking at their shell shape, they don't look like the native tortoise on Isabela," he said.

"Now that we have these museum specimens and we're able to understand what a Floreana tortoise looked like at the genetic level we're able to determine that, in fact, half to an even greater percentage of the genome of these aliens, these weirdos on the northern Isabela, are actually hybrids between a Floreana species and the native species on Isabela," Russello said.

"So the genetic signature of the Floreana species lives on in this species."

In December, Russello and a team of about 20 researchers will head out on a three-week expedition to extract genetic material from tortoises at Isabela Island, home to 2,000 of the animals.

Russello said scientists will then start a captive-breeding program of Isabela tortoises who share a large percentage of genetic material with the extinct species so successive generations can be bred in the hopes of one day producing a nearly purebred form of the extinct tortoises.

"So we could pick a male that has 70 per cent of its genome that's shared with the Floreana species and pick a female that has (a high percentage) and breed them."

Russello said the research will be important in preserving other lost species of animals.

"The Galapagos tortoise are a flagship species, they're a flagship for evolutionary theory, a flagship for conservation of biological diversity. So it brings attention to this growing and mounting problem of biological diversity loss."

ern59 · 09-26-2008, 02:54 PM

When will these guys learn that just because we CAN do something doesn't mean we SHOULD do it? Btw, I was born and raised in BC too, just moved away last year.

Itsnotgonnaspankitself... · 09-26-2008, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ern59

When will these guys learn that just because we CAN do something doesn't mean we SHOULD do it?

no kidding...

haha...but I guess that could be said of so many groups nowadays...

Quote:

Btw, I was born and raised in BC too, just moved away last year.

Nice! Yeah, I'm starting to think I should move back there...

haha...at least you're in Tacoma, which from what I understand is pretty nice country as well....whereas I was in God-forsaken Alberta! haha

well...Calgary wasn't too bad...but the winters definitely suck compared to B.C. weather...

Vinnie · 09-27-2008, 09:52 AM

Did they not revive the quagga a few years back?

Itsnotgonnaspankitself... · 09-27-2008, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vinnie

Did they not revive the quagga a few years back?

The what now...?!

Vinnie · 09-27-2008, 10:03 AM

It's a sort of horse thing I think that went extinct about the turn of last century amnd they were trying to reintroduce it.

Itsnotgonnaspankitself... · 09-27-2008, 10:03 AM

from Wikipedia:

After the very close relationship between the quagga and surviving zebras was discovered, the Quagga Project was started by Reinhold Rau in South Africa to recreate the quagga by selective breeding from plains zebra stock, with the eventual aim of reintroducing them to the wild. This type of breeding is also called breeding back. In early 2006, it was reported that the third and fourth generations of the project have produced animals which look very much like the depictions and preserved specimens of the quagga, though whether looks alone are enough to declare that this project has produced a true "re-creation" of the original quagga is controversial. DNA from mounted specimens was successfully extracted in 1984, but the technology to use recovered DNA for breeding does not yet exist. In addition to skins such as the one held by the Natural History Museum in London, there are 23 known stuffed and mounted quagga throughout the world. A twenty-fourth specimen was destroyed in Königsberg, Germany (now Kaliningrad), during World War II

Now, I know it's just Wikipedia...but it was just a quick search.

It doesn't look like they are *actual* quaggas (quaggi??), but just close facsimiles...

Vinnie · 09-27-2008, 10:08 AM

Okay so they may not have manageed it yet but it's the same idea. By use of genetic profiling they are able to match the most likely candidates to breed back. This is very far from genetic manipulation and more akin to cat or dog breeding except the choice is made from genetic information. IO have absolutely no problem with this.

Itsnotgonnaspankitself... · 09-27-2008, 10:22 AM

You don't think that messing with the *numbers* of creatures will effect the balance?

I mean, nature will rebalance the whole equation, I'm sure, but at what cost?

09-26-2008, 02:28 PM	#1 (permalink)
Itsnotgonnaspankitself... Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 10,514	Hello, Jurassic Park called... They want their idea back. So, a group of scientists in British Columbia, Canada (aka: God's Country...and, fittingly, where I was born) have decided to 'play God' and attempt to bring back an extinct species. Now, on one hand, I think this is totally cool from a scientific perspective...but, on the other hand, man is attempting to upset the balance (yet again) by introducing a new balance to whatever environment this newly recreated species will inhabit. So...maybe we could make 'em, and then kill 'em all off again...you know, to keep things even... At any rate here's the article...

09-26-2008, 02:54 PM	#3 (permalink)
ern59 Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Tacoma Wa Posts: 323	When will these guys learn that just because we CAN do something doesn't mean we SHOULD do it? Btw, I was born and raised in BC too, just moved away last year. __________________

09-27-2008, 10:03 AM	#8 (permalink)
Itsnotgonnaspankitself... Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 10,514	from Wikipedia: After the very close relationship between the quagga and surviving zebras was discovered, the Quagga Project was started by Reinhold Rau in South Africa to recreate the quagga by selective breeding from plains zebra stock, with the eventual aim of reintroducing them to the wild. This type of breeding is also called breeding back. In early 2006, it was reported that the third and fourth generations of the project have produced animals which look very much like the depictions and preserved specimens of the quagga, though whether looks alone are enough to declare that this project has produced a true "re-creation" of the original quagga is controversial. DNA from mounted specimens was successfully extracted in 1984, but the technology to use recovered DNA for breeding does not yet exist. In addition to skins such as the one held by the Natural History Museum in London, there are 23 known stuffed and mounted quagga throughout the world. A twenty-fourth specimen was destroyed in Königsberg, Germany (now Kaliningrad), during World War II Now, I know it's just Wikipedia...but it was just a quick search. It doesn't look like they are actual quaggas (quaggi??), but just close facsimiles... __________________

09-27-2008, 10:22 AM	#10 (permalink)
Itsnotgonnaspankitself... Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 10,514	You don't think that messing with the numbers of creatures will effect the balance? I mean, nature will rebalance the whole equation, I'm sure, but at what cost? __________________

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09-26-2008, 02:29 PM	#2 (permalink)
Itsnotgonnaspankitself... Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 10,514	B.C. scientist part of global group trying to bring back extinct tortoise species 24/09/2008 6:53:00 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VANCOUVER - A British Columbia geneticist is among a group of international scientists trying to bring back an extinct giant tortoise that disappeared over a century ago. Camille Bains, THE CANADIAN PRESS The scientists hope to breed generations of "strange" animals that are a hybrid of the extinct species and another. Michael Russello, of the Centre for Species at Risk and Habitat Studies at the Okanagan campus of the University of B.C., said the lost tortoises once found on the Galapagos island of Floreana were believed exterminated in the mid-1800s through intense harvesting. He said researchers have extracted DNA samples from specimens of the extinct animals collected by early biologists and stored at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Ma. By comparing the DNA material from the lost tortoise species, called geochelone elephantopus, to about 30 of tortoises on Galapagos island of Isabela, scientists have learned the two species are genetically related. Their findings of the scientists, which included Russello and colleagues from Yale University, Australia's Macquarie University and Italy's University of Florence, were published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Russello said scientists became interested in the Isabela Island tortoises because they just looked so strange. "They don't look like they belong there, in that looking at their shell shape, they don't look like the native tortoise on Isabela," he said. "Now that we have these museum specimens and we're able to understand what a Floreana tortoise looked like at the genetic level we're able to determine that, in fact, half to an even greater percentage of the genome of these aliens, these weirdos on the northern Isabela, are actually hybrids between a Floreana species and the native species on Isabela," Russello said. "So the genetic signature of the Floreana species lives on in this species." In December, Russello and a team of about 20 researchers will head out on a three-week expedition to extract genetic material from tortoises at Isabela Island, home to 2,000 of the animals. Russello said scientists will then start a captive-breeding program of Isabela tortoises who share a large percentage of genetic material with the extinct species so successive generations can be bred in the hopes of one day producing a nearly purebred form of the extinct tortoises. "So we could pick a male that has 70 per cent of its genome that's shared with the Floreana species and pick a female that has (a high percentage) and breed them." Russello said the research will be important in preserving other lost species of animals. "The Galapagos tortoise are a flagship species, they're a flagship for evolutionary theory, a flagship for conservation of biological diversity. So it brings attention to this growing and mounting problem of biological diversity loss."

09-27-2008, 09:52 AM	#5 (permalink)
Vinnie Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 5,104	Did they not revive the quagga a few years back?

09-27-2008, 10:03 AM	#7 (permalink)
Vinnie Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 5,104	It's a sort of horse thing I think that went extinct about the turn of last century amnd they were trying to reintroduce it.

09-27-2008, 10:08 AM	#9 (permalink)
Vinnie Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 5,104	Okay so they may not have manageed it yet but it's the same idea. By use of genetic profiling they are able to match the most likely candidates to breed back. This is very far from genetic manipulation and more akin to cat or dog breeding except the choice is made from genetic information. IO have absolutely no problem with this.