Biology
Biology
12th Edition
ISBN: 9780134813448
Author: Audesirk, Teresa, Gerald, Byers, Bruce E.
Publisher: Pearson,
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Chapter 18.5, Problem 1HYEW

Scientists have cloned a number of animal species, including mice, dogs, cats, horses, and cows. Could the technology of cloning be used to bring back extinct species? In principle, yes, provided that perfectly preserved DNA of the extinct species is available. Such DNA could be transferred to an egg from a closely related, living species, and the egg implanted in a surrogate mother of that species.

For example, researchers have suggested that it might be possible to clone a woolly mammoth, using an elephant surrogate mother and DNA extracted from 20,000-year-old mammoths found frozen beneath the Siberian tundra.

Most scientists, however, believe that any DNA recovered from a fossil mammoth would be far too degraded for use in cloning, and synthesizing an entire mammoth genome (its sequence is now almost fully known) is beyond the capabilities of current technology. The odds of success might be greater for another proposed project, which would use DNA from a preserved museum specimen to revive the Tasmanian tiger, an Australian mammal that has been extinct for only 70 years. If cloning recently extinct species proves to be possible, do you think it would be a good idea?

If Extinct Species Can Be Revived by Cloning?

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Woolly mammoths have been extinct for about 10,000 years, but we often find their well- preserved remains in Siberian permafrost. Research groups are now planning to use SCNT to resurrect these huge elephant- like mammals. No mammoth eggs have been recovered so far, so elephant eggs would be used instead. An elephant would also be the surrogate mother for the resulting embryo. The researchers may try a modified SCNT technique used to clone a mouse that had been dead and frozen for sixteen years. Ice crystals that form during freezing break up cell membranes, so cells from the frozen mouse were in bad shape. Their DNA was transferred into donor mouse eggs, and cells from the resulting embryos were fused with mouse stem cells. Four healthy clones were born from the hybrid embryos. What are some of the pros and cons of cloning an extinct animal?
a) Write a short description of why someone would choose to write about wolves vs. dogs. Make an argument for why this topic is interesting.  b) Write a short description of why someone would choose this paper below of comparative analysis of the blood transcriptomes between wolves. How does this paper relate to wolves vs. dogs? c) How can you tell that this is a primary research paper and not a review article?
Research has now demonstrated that techniques that have been developed for cloning animals could be used to clone human embryos, although no living human clones have been produced. There is widespread consensus that cloning a live human would be unethical. However, some people have suggested creating cloned embryos from which stem or pluripotent cells, which have the ability to develop into any tissue or organ, could be extracted. The stem and pluripotent cells might then be used to create genetically identical tissues and organs that could then be transplanted back into the donor to treat failed organs and diseases. What might be some reasons for or against this type of therapeutic cloning?

Chapter 18 Solutions

Biology

Ch. 18.4 - Prob. 1TCCh. 18.4 - Does the mudskippers ability to walk on land...Ch. 18.4 - Can ancient DNA reveal the secrets of dinosaur...Ch. 18.4 - Although it may never be possible to recover DNA...Ch. 18.4 - describe the transitions and innovations...Ch. 18.4 - describe the advantages gained by the first plants...Ch. 18.5 - Scientists have cloned a number of animal species,...Ch. 18.5 - explain how extinction has affected the course of...Ch. 18.5 - describe the likely causes of mass extinctions in...Ch. 18.6 - We might be able to more easily distinguish...Ch. 18.6 - Paleontologists recently discovered fossil...Ch. 18.6 - describe the evolutionary history of humans and...Ch. 18.6 - name and describe some characteristics of the...Ch. 18.6 - describe the key features of the most recent phase...Ch. 18.6 - The unexpected discovery that humans interbred...Ch. 18 - Almost all of the oxygen gas in todays atmosphere...Ch. 18 - Extinction a. generally does not occur except...Ch. 18 - In the endosymbiotic origin of the mitochondrion,...Ch. 18 - Which of the following does not list evolutionary...Ch. 18 - Prob. 5MCCh. 18 - Because there was no oxygen in the earliest...Ch. 18 - The molecule _________ became a candidate for the...Ch. 18 - Complex cells that contain a nucleus and other...Ch. 18 - The Sperm of early land plants had to reach the...Ch. 18 - Prob. 5FIBCh. 18 - Prob. 6FIBCh. 18 - Prob. 7FIBCh. 18 - What is the evidence that life might have...Ch. 18 - How did the origin of photosynthesis affect...Ch. 18 - Explain the endosymbiont hypothesis for the origin...Ch. 18 - Name two advantages of multicellularity for plants...Ch. 18 - What advantages and disadvantages would...Ch. 18 - Prob. 6RQCh. 18 - Prob. 7RQCh. 18 - Extinctions have occurred throughout the history...Ch. 18 - In biological terms, what do you think was the...
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