Concept explainers
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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Biology: Life on Earth with Physiology (11th Edition)
- https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/biotech-dna-technology/dna-cloning-tutorial/a/overview-dna-cloning That is the link for the example ^arrow_forwardNow that cloning is possible, should it be used to clone animals that are near extinction? What are the possible ramifications of this when it comes to genetic diversity and size of the gene pool?arrow_forwardThere are two time gaps in the process of cloning. What are they? (ie. What do you have to wait for?)arrow_forward
- There are a range of ethical issues associated with cloning. However, many of these are not applied to cloning plants. Explain why the idea of cloning an entire plant is generally accepted while cloning an entire human is not.arrow_forwardWhy is genetic imprinting is a major obstacle to the successful cloning of animals?arrow_forwardWhat are some of the technical challenges of cloning a mammoth? Check all that are true Ancient mammoth DNA has degraded so it is hard to know the complete genome sequence Mammoth gestation time is likely too short to allowing cloning A living surrogate mother would have to be used, which could pose problems since the closest relative to mammoths is endangered elephants A living oocyte would have to be obtained from an extant species, which could pose problems since the closest relative to mammoths is endangered elephants Mammoths lived so long ago that they used a different genetic code than modern animals There are no enzymes in existence that could ligate together mammoth DNA sequence with elephant sequence Mammoths probably had egg shells, which would be hard to penetrate with a needlearrow_forward
- Scientists have reportedly isolated short fragments of DNA from fossilized dinosaur bones hundreds of millions of years old. The technique used to isolate this DNA is the polymerase chain reaction, which is capable of amplifying very small amounts of DNA a millionfold. Critics have claimed that the DNA isolated from dinosaur bones is not purely of ancient origin, but instead has been contaminated by DNA from present-day organisms such as bacteria, mold, or humans. What precautions, analyses, and control experiments could be carried out to ensure that DNA recovered from fossils is truly of ancient origin?arrow_forwardIf you were to sequence a human genome today, how would the sequencing differ from that done during the Human Genome Project? Choose only the best answer. You would still use Sanger sequencing. You would still assemble the sequencing reads into a genome using bioinformatics. You still need to clone the DNA fragments prior to sequencing them. All three of the other statements are true.arrow_forwardWhat are some possible research questions and practical applications that could be addressed by creating organisms with artificial chromosomes and synthetic genomes? What might be some potential safety, environmental, social, and ethical concerns about creating organisms with synthetic genomes?arrow_forward
- You are studying a new gene “X” that you think controls skin color in Bearded Dragons. In order to determine what gene X does you need lots of gene X DNA to work with. So, you decide to amplify it through the process known as PCR. You have a forward and a reverse primer that have been designed to gene Xf – a gene in frogs that is similar to the one found in the Bearded Dragon. You are pretty sure that these two primers will work in Bearded Dragons, so you decide to go ahead with the PCR. In frogs, the Forward Xf primer binds gene Xf between nucleotides 32 and 47. The Reverse Xf primer binds between nucleotides 1110 and 1135. What size PCR product would these two primers create if they amplified the frog gene Xf?? bparrow_forwardWhich of the following most accurately describes the process of DNA cloning? set of laboratory procedures that consist of cutting a segment of DNA with restriction enzymes set of laboratory procedures that uses living cells to mass-produce specific DNA fragments set of laboratory procedures by which a DNA fragment is transferred from a living organism to a SNP chip the manipulation of DNA fragments in a laboratory using modern techniques of molecular biology set of laboratory procedures that consist of isolating of a DNA fragment from a living organism and inserting it into a plasmidarrow_forwardGive typing answer with explanation and conclusion If you want to identify genes linked to autism in a mouse model, which genetic approach or approaches could you use? (Mark all that apply) A) Reverse Genetics B) Forward Genetics C) Optogenetics D) Population Geneticsarrow_forward
- Human Heredity: Principles and Issues (MindTap Co...BiologyISBN:9781305251052Author:Michael CummingsPublisher:Cengage Learning