Cloned extinct mammal- brought to term/born in 2003, DNS

[Leptonyx]

Had anyone heard of this before? Apparently it was a goat known as the bucardo; a mountain goat that had been extinct since 1999. The kid was carried to term and born in 2003, but when it was born it only survived a few minutes

Bringing Extinct Species Back to Life - Pictures, More From National Geographic Magazine

As sad as it is (and as heart-wrenching it must have been for the scientists who watched the extinct species revived, only to have it become extinct again), I find it amazing the leaps and bounds we've come in species resurrection. I've found a couple of posts throughout this site in regards to cloning extinct/endangered species, but with this article published in 2013 it sounds like it's slowly but surely becoming a possibility.

I know this question has been posed multiple times but I'll ask it again: Even if we COULD bring an extinct species back to life, should we? After reading this article, the number of failed attempts, and the suffering this poor individual bucardo must have endured before it died, would it be worth it? How many millions upon billions of dollars would be spent trying to bring an extant species back to life, and even if we were successful, would it be fair to ask that animal to live by itself as the only member of its species? With all the genetic modification that would have to go into constructing the DNA that had been damaged, is it even the animal that we went extinct years ago, or is it now just a man-made hybrid?

Thoughts appreciated

 

[TheMightyOrca]

Yeah, I've heard of it. Interesting subject.

Hm, maybe wait until the cloning technology is more successful before trying to clone more extinct animals, I suppose. The technology is still a little weak and still super expensive; best to work it out more before trying it on higher risk animals.

Personally I'm all for cloning some extinct species back for research purposes. Though with social animals, we'd probably want to have a group. And again, waiting until the technology is more affordable and more reliable. I'd want to see cloning being used to help out endangered species (like, improving genetic diversity kind of thing) before going for extinct ones.

 

[Chlidonias]

Had anyone heard of this before? Apparently it was a goat known as the bucardo; a mountain goat that had been extinct since 1999. The kid was carried to term and born in 2003, but when it was born it only survived a few minutes

to be precise, it is an extinct subspecies not a species. The species itself is still extant (it is the Spanish ibex).

 

[lamna]

Cloning has nothing to do with genetic modification, that's the point, you're trying to create an exact copy.

For the moment, cloning is very hit and miss but with the Pyrenean ibex I don't see any issue.

There are plenty of domestic goats to use as surrogates, and there are still living subspecies to cross the clones with. It's expensive, and you'd loose a lot of clones before they could breed, but if someone could get the cash together we could have dozens of hybrids ready for reintroduction within five years.

But, at the same time there is no reason to rush into this. It's not like the DNA is going to go bad. As long as it's widely dispersed to prevent all the genetic material being lost in accidents, there is no reason we can't wait a century until the technology is better and there is secure habitat for them.