La « dé-extinction » du mammouth laineux, un « Colossal » canular ?
International audience Reports of a mammoth cloning project on-going under George Church’s supervision appear periodically in the press. Close examination of the available evidence indicates that there is indeed such a project (carried out in a company called “Colossal”), but the aim is actually to...
Published in: | médecine/sciences |
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Main Author: | |
Other Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | French |
Published: |
HAL CCSD
2022
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-03677770 https://hal.science/hal-03677770/document https://hal.science/hal-03677770/file/msc220068.pdf https://doi.org/10.1051/medsci/2022046 |
Summary: | International audience Reports of a mammoth cloning project on-going under George Church’s supervision appear periodically in the press. Close examination of the available evidence indicates that there is indeed such a project (carried out in a company called “Colossal”), but the aim is actually to modify the Asian elephant’s genome so that the resulting animal displays some significant cold-adaptation traits, could theoretically be reintroduced into Siberia, and would then (also theoretically) modify the biotope towards its initial state of a steppe rather than a tundra. This endeavour seems largely unfeasible, but it may trigger important methodological advances that probably explain its ability to attract significant capital investment. |
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