Re: is IT here? already?

From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@aeiveos.com)
Date: Tue Mar 14 2000 - 02:33:41 MST


On Mon, 13 Mar 2000 EvMick@aol.com wrote:

> i heard that "they" had recently found another frozen mammoth in Siberia.
> Best I can recall that has happened before.. If it can be cloned I'm all for
> it. As well as any other currently extinct species.

They have mammoths falling out of glaciers/permafrost relatively frequently
in Siberia. Just have to be in the right place at the right time to catch
one before it spoils. However, if Robert F.'s calculations are correct
regarding DNA preservation, you can't go back much further than recent
ice ages and expect to get functional DNA unless you intend a Celera
like effort to sequence *lots* of little fragments and reconstruct the
entire genome. Its not strictly impossible, its just going to take more
work and funds than are available in most labs currently.

Robert



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