Playing God, without mercy, without fear?

[MrKnickerbocker]

I took it to mean that it would be cruel to bring it to life if it was likely to wither and die because of changes in food sources, environment, disease etc.
I'd take that chance.

That was more my point.

The scientific value of it cannot be denied. It would be a huge leap forward, but I'm just not sure if that's a leap that we should take. Personally, I'm interested in the outcome of such an experiment, but I do think there are many ethical concerns about it.

 

[Crimson Idol]

For environment, perhaps somewhere like Siberia - from recent documentaries about Tigers in Siberia it's generally got several feet of snow and constant blizzards, but is still full of vegetation. Thinking along the lines of where Elephants live but really cold!

 

[Onhell]

There is a hell of a lot of effort being put in around the globe to prevent animal extinction.
Could this not render animal extinction impossible?

Referencing Jurassic Park as others have I would say it depends why they became extinct. Did they have their time in the sun or was it due to negligent human activity like deforestation and urban sprawl?

Seriously, Perun - you've got me craving a mammoth burger. I'm imagining a taste similar to bison, but tougher.

Would a mammoth be suited for life in the current world? Could dinosaurs exist now considering the climate change? The mammoth had its day, does it need another?

The article in National Geographic stated the mammoth's would be cloned and placed in Siberia, an already desolate place expect for USSR exiles and one KHL hockey team. They state that it used to be a grassland and populating it with mammoths could very well turn back the clock, have it become grassland again and not only mammoths, but cattle, could roam the area. As for mammoth burgers... why not? We once hunted bison almost to extinction, then we successfully brought it back from the brink to the point where bison meat is common place in supermarkets and bison burgers, albeit a tad more expensive, are available at some burger joints.

The process through which they want to bring it back is in stages. They would implant an Asian Elephant with the embryo and it would be something like 10% mammoth and within a few generations finally have a full bred mammoth. I just wonder how long would it take until they are self-sustaining, reproducing on their own and in decent numbers to make them "successful" as a species. The article did mention doing something similar with other extinct animals, specially recent ones like that of a Tasmanian "wolf" declared extinct as recent as 2007.