Russian Scientists Plans To Open 'Jurassic Park' Like Cloning Centre

Remember those five films that showed us exactly why a prehistoric cloning centre was a bad idea? Well, apparently some Russian scientists aren't familiar with Jurassic Park and are planning just that.

According to The Siberian Times, scientists from Russia's Northern-Eastern Federal University, alongside the South Korean SOOAM Biotech Research Foundation, are planning to open a research lab in the Siberian city of Yakutsk, to study prehistoric animals that could live today.

I'm sorry, but someone call Jeff Goldblum, this is starting to sound like an all too familiar tale where people end up getting eaten.

Ok, that's a bit extreme, but the $5.9 million lab will be a 'world class paleo-genetic scientific hub' it's been reported.

Experts say the centre will aim 'to study extinct animals from living cells - and to restore native creatures as woolly mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, cave lion and breeds of long-gone horses'.

PA

So more like a BBC's Walking Beasts version of Jurassic Park.

So far they've found DNA from the ancient animals preserved in remains encased in frozen soil - or permafrost - for tens of thousands of years.

Dr Lena Grigorieva, who drafted plans for the centre, said: "There is no such unique material anywhere else in the world. We study not only Pleistocene animals, another line is the study of the history of settlement of the North-East of Russia.

"Northern ethnic groups have a unique ancient genetic structure. Such studies will help in the study of rare genetic diseases, their diagnosis, prevention."

Around 80 percent of soft tissue samples of extinct animals from the Pleistocene and Holocene have been unearthed in the area.

Though if you're worried about a Jurassic Park-type takeover resurrecting them will prove to be difficult as DNA degrades over time.

We already live in such advanced times that cloning is not a distant invention of science yet to happen.

From the mid-90s and the cloning of Dolly the Sheep to cloning your beloved family pet - it's a term we're becoming more and more used to.

So why not prehistoric animals like mammoths?

But the argument remains, where does it cross a line? Your furbaby is one thing, the prospect of being chased by a T-Rex is a whole new level.

Topics: World News, News, Jurassic Park, Russia

Rachael Grealish

Rachael is a NCTJ qualified journalist from West Cumbria, with a passion for news, features and journalism. Outside of work Rachael loves plenty of coffee, running and reading.

@RachaelGrealish