• Question: could extinct things be brought back to life?

    Asked by gedukas1234 to Catherine, Charlotte, Colin, Becki, Rick on 24 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Rebecca Scott

      Rebecca Scott answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      I think people will try, but I’m not sure if it is a good idea. In some cases, such as evolutionary ancestors, they became extinct for a reason, and they may not survive in our modern day environments. But for modern animals that were hunted to extinction, I think it would be good if they could bring them back, but we would need to re-educate people, so these animals are forced into extinction again.

      I do however have a bug in amber on my watch strap just in case we can do some Jurassic Park style cloning… 🙂

    • Photo: Charlotte Dalton

      Charlotte Dalton answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      Possibly, if we have their DNA we could clone them, but then you have to grow the embryos outside the womb or in another animal which could cause problems, plus there might be ethical questions over the safety of brining dangerous animals back to Earth when there are so many more people here now

    • Photo: Colin Swift

      Colin Swift answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      The main problem would be obtaining a good sample of DNA from the extinct lifeform – I guess if we built a bank of DNA of creatures we thought might become extinct then this could become a way of reviving this species. As for dinosaurs well the DNA is most likely broken down, so can’t be used. So this is highly unlikely.

    • Photo: Catherine Fontinelle

      Catherine Fontinelle answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      Hi gedukas1234,
      In theory, yes…although it may end up a bit like the Jurassic Park movie, where the missing bits of DNA get substituted with other stuff, like frog! So things may not be quite identical, it close, if the diggers can find enough old bones with preserved DNA..

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