An interesting poll over on CNN: Should scientists try to

clone a mammoth if DNA is obtained from remains found in Siberia?

Yes 60% 16796
No 40% 11339
Total Votes: 28135

That's interesting to me because it shows that Americans may put more importance into scientific research and discovery than they do in religious doctrines.

Please, cast your vote.

Then they should miniaturize 'em, so I can have a pet mammoth.

...is splice some traits of mammoth into living genes, I would think

and that dna would also need to be "alive" as well

sorry, my spelling skills were taught before Sesame street.

dp

I think 40% is an unfortunately large number of people telling scientists what they shouldn't do.

How about figuring out how we're going to clone all the honeybees that are dying, you know the little critters that pollinate our plants? Now if they can teach the mammoth how to keep our ecosystem alive I'm all for it.

The mind boggles at the possibilities.

as we get fatter and fatter as a society.

:shrug: ... or a paleo-conservative thrid party.

What? Do we need more animals to lock behind cages? Are the canned-hunters getting bored with African “Big 5”?

Bringing back the mammoth would lead to only one thing: its exploitation.

Whether the receding glaciers, humans, or a combination of the two (likely) is what caused the mammoths decimation, I am not in favor of bringing it back to a world that would be even MORE inhospitable and contemptuous of it.

Don’t get me wrong, I love animals and the natural world. I am a 30s-something man with two kids who is making a career change so that I can study endangered animals (focused on genetic variation). So protecting and caring for animals is as much a part of me as breathing oxygen.

However, we have enough animals with humanity’s foot on their necks without adding more to the list.

Count me out.

...if successful, the technologies involved would probably benefit a lot of medical research...

Why would we we WANT to bring back a mammoth? It's large - using up more of the Earth's resources. We already have elephants.

Look, I'm all for scientific discovery, but as was stated above, I'd rather we use this technology to bring back honey bees or aid in earth's recovery and survival.

What would a mammoth do to help us (besides idle curiosity)?

Only something as fucked up as humanity could actually devise a way to make something go extinct TWICE.

it is a stupid poll

I'm missing the connection.

results of that particular poll so far) favor the pursuit of science than oppose it on religious grounds, as in humans playing God, etc. Since I do not believe in supernatural beings, the idea that a majority believes in the pursuit of science, which could keep me alive longer, is comforting to me. Of course, you don't have to agree. :)

I think, however, that you might be ignoring a host of completely secular reasons why someone might vote no by assuming that the "no" votes are based on religious doctrines.

I would vote no. Not because I think science is anathema to my faith (quite the contrary-- they appear to edify each other), but simply because I don't trust human beings to do something simply because we can. I'd like to see bio-ethicists, and the leading brains of the relevant disciplines to first discuss it. Then discuss it more. Then, when consensus is reached, discuss it even further.

has eggs ready and frozen to be used in some horrible experiment". I hope they study the poor thing and then not bring a sister back to life. What a poor little victim that clone would be facing all of today's viruses and such. 100,000 years is too long.