The short, strange history of gene de-extinction

Certainly there is a long way. Mice created many genetic changes previously known as mice or long hair. That is, the changes were similar to mammoths, but not from Mammoth. In fact, only one message of unique mammoths was added to the mice.

Since this idea is very new and attracted a lot of attention, I decided that it would be useful to create a record of previous attempts to add extinct DNA to living organisms. Since technology does not have a name, let’s give it one: “Chronogenics”.

“Few exceptionally, exceptionally,” says Ben Novak, the main scientist of Revive & Restore, an organization that applies genetic technology to memorization efforts. Novak helped me track examples, and I also got ideas from the world of genetics at Harvard University George Cherish – who originally imagined the mammoth project – as well as Beth Shapiro, the main scientist in Colossal.

The starting point for the Cronogen science appears to be in 2004. That year, American scientists have informed that they were re -created the deadly influenza virus in 1918 and used it in mice injury. After a long search, they recovered examples of the virus from a frozen body in Alaska, which maintained germs like a time capsule. In the end, they managed to rebuild the entire virus – every eight of its genes – and found that it had deadly effects on rodents.

This was a disturbing start to the idea of ​​expanding genes. We also know from films like The thing, Drilling frozen creatures of ice is a bad idea. Many scientists felt that the 1918 influenza restoration – which killed 30 million people – created an unnecessary danger to slip the virus, which led to a new outbreak.