Dire Wolves making a comeback

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

https://time.com/7274542/colossal-dire- ... m=referral

I didn't believe it at first, but hey, it's in Time magazine. o.o

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

NVM they didn't https://www.newscientist.com/article/24 ... xtinction/

[hammerofglass]

Honestly it's good to see some old-fashioned mad science in these trying times.

Just slap in fifteen genes from an extinct species that you're pretty sure sure have something to do with size because real life totally runs on comic book rules where genes are just Legos instead of complex bundles of chemical instructions that interact with each other and with outside factors in unpredictable ways. What could go wrong?

[stryke]

It's amusingly Jurrasic Park, there's a whole section in the book about how these things aren't really dinosaurs but approximations at best.

[McAvoy]

It's amusingly Jurrasic Park, there's a whole section in the book about how these things aren't really dinosaurs but approximations at best.

Yep. So we got dire wolves that will weigh like 150 pounds or so? Big deal. Kinda neat and maybe they can learn from this and figure out a better way of making a better approximation of a dire wolf.

[clearspira]

Another one of those ''what is being reported isn't what the scientists actually said'' moments. But I guess ''genetically modified canid'' is a less interesting headline.

As an aside, I don't really care what animal they try to bring back, and that goes double if we ourselves were responsible for wiping it out to begin with. My biggest fear is that one day some idiot will bring back an early hominid.

What rights would such a person have? My hope would be ''all the rights that we have'' but things often do not work that way. They may treat it like just another ape in a cage. And what if it is decided that it does have human rights and is released ''into the wild'' so to speak? Is a society that is barely getting along with ourselves ready for an entirely new branch of humanity? Will the same people furiously kicking out immigrants and are only a few steps removed from the KKK accept a Neanderthal taking their jobs or having sex with their sisters? Because my bet is a big fat no.

I know that this is all pie in the sky right now. But we are basically there. This is something that could happen soon.

[McAvoy]

Another one of those ''what is being reported isn't what the scientists actually said'' moments. But I guess ''genetically modified canid'' is a less interesting headline.

As an aside, I don't really care what animal they try to bring back, and that goes double if we ourselves were responsible for wiping it out to begin with. My biggest fear is that one day some idiot will bring back an early hominid.

What rights would such a person have? My hope would be ''all the rights that we have'' but things often do not work that way. They may treat it like just another ape in a cage. And what if it is decided that it does have human rights and is released ''into the wild'' so to speak? Is a society that is barely getting along with ourselves ready for an entirely new branch of humanity? Will the same people furiously kicking out immigrants and are only a few steps removed from the KKK accept a Neanderthal taking their jobs or having sex with their sisters? Because my bet is a big fat no.

I know that this is all pie in the sky right now. But we are basically there. This is something that could happen soon.

I think bringing back some random animal whether it's a hybrid wolf or hybrid big cat with big saber teeth or some idiot bird, is far different then bringing back some proto-human.

How they do these things requires a genetic modification of a donor from either a modern human, chimp or ape species. In either case, it would raise natural ethical questions just like human cloning.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes...

[hammerofglass]

As an aside, I don't really care what animal they try to bring back, and that goes double if we ourselves were responsible for wiping it out to begin with. My biggest fear is that one day some idiot will bring back an early hominid.

The other hominids DO also fall under "we ourselves were responsible for wiping it out". Our distant ancestors weren't better people than us.

[McAvoy]

As an aside, I don't really care what animal they try to bring back, and that goes double if we ourselves were responsible for wiping it out to begin with. My biggest fear is that one day some idiot will bring back an early hominid.

The other hominids DO also fall under "we ourselves were responsible for wiping it out". Our distant ancestors weren't better people than us.

Yeah, from what I understand homo sapien may be involved in some pre historic genocide involving just not the Neanderthals. Though even scientists aren't sure how Neanderthals died out though.

Just a interesting thought that there were other human-like species out there.

[hammerofglass]

As an aside, I don't really care what animal they try to bring back, and that goes double if we ourselves were responsible for wiping it out to begin with. My biggest fear is that one day some idiot will bring back an early hominid.

The other hominids DO also fall under "we ourselves were responsible for wiping it out". Our distant ancestors weren't better people than us.

Yeah, from what I understand homo sapien may be involved in some pre historic genocide involving just not the Neanderthals. Though even scientists aren't sure how Neanderthals died out though.

Just a interesting thought that there were other human-like species out there.

Most modern humans have at least some Neanderthal genetics so it's arguable if they even did die out.