• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
'De-extinction' firm planning to resurrect extinct animals using Jurassic Park-style technology

Home> News> Science

Published 18:46 26 Jun 2024 GMT+1

'De-extinction' firm planning to resurrect extinct animals using Jurassic Park-style technology

Did we learn nothing from Jurassic Park?

Bec Oakes

Bec Oakes

If the Jurassic Park films have taught us anything, it's that bringing extinct creatures back to life is a bad idea - a really bad one.

But has that stopped a group of scientists from planning to do it?

Absolutely not.

That's right, a 'de-extinction' firm based in the US is planning to use Jurassic Park-style technology to a number of animals that roamed the Earth during the Ice Age.

Advert

A Texas-based company has developed technology that could resurrect extinct animals such as the woolly mammoth (Getty Stock Images)
A Texas-based company has developed technology that could resurrect extinct animals such as the woolly mammoth (Getty Stock Images)

Scientists at Texas-based Colossal Biosciences have managed to create elephant stem cells that can be developed into any tissue in the body.

This is a massive technological breakthrough that could lead to the recreation of species that have long been extinct - of which they are '100% confident' of.

The firm has already announced its plans to resurrect the Tasmanian tiger - which is thought to have died out more than 3,000 years ago - as well as dodos and wooly mammoths.

If all goes to plan, we won't even have to wait that long to see them, with the scientists claiming the creatures could be 'de-extinct' within a decade.

Advert

And they aren't just stopping at known animals, as recently discovered DNA samples could allow them to recreate animals so primeval we have no idea what they look like, as per The Daily Mail.

The parallels with the 1993 horror movie, in which mosquito DNA trapped in amber was used to create dinosaurs, are getting ever closer - and we all know how that turned out.

We all saw how Jurassic Park turned out (Universal/Getty Images)
We all saw how Jurassic Park turned out (Universal/Getty Images)

However, co-founder Ben Lamm told Sky News that it's more like a 'reverse Jurassic Park', adding: "In the film, they were filling in the holes in the dinosaur DNA with frog DNA.

"We are leveraging artificial intelligence and other tools to identify the core genes that make a mammoth a mammoth and then engineering them into elephant genomes."

Advert

He also said that amber, which in the film contained the fossilised mosquitos, is not a 'good holder of DNA' - so minor plot point there.

As well as bring extinct animals back to life, however, Lamm said that their research will also bring about crucial benefits for the preservation of others.

Appearing on the Net Hero podcast, he explained how 'de-extinction' can help with species preservation and restore endangered ecosystems.

The dodo went extinct in 1681 (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
The dodo went extinct in 1681 (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

"When a keystone species is removed from the environment, the environment starts to change," he said.

Advert

"Re-wilding of the wolves, for example. They got rid of the wolves because of the fear that predators are bad. But apex predators and large herbivores are incredibly important to the ecosystem.

"If you remove a predator, there’s less animals because everything gets out of balance."

He continued: "Nature has an incredible way of balancing the ecosystem and a more balanced ecosystem has a higher rate of oxygen and nitrogen turnover.

"A balanced ecosystem has incredible ways of sequestering carbon and in some cases, even methane in the Arctic.

"So we want to help preserve keystone species that are in danger of going extinct today and we also want to bring back keystone species that have been lost to help revitalise those ecosystems."

Advert

In regards to their progress, Lamm says they are 'are well into the editing phase', and feel 'very good' that the return of the wooly mammoth will be in 2028.

Fingers crossed.

Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images

Topics: Science, Technology, Animals

Bec Oakes
Bec Oakes

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

8 hours ago
  • 8 hours ago

    Man who killed twisted murderer Jeffrey Dahmer explains why he did it

    The notorious serial killer was killed in 1994

    News
  • 8 hours ago

    Elon Musk forms his 'own political party' after fallout with Trump

    Looks like the tech billionaire isn't done with politics after all

    News
  • 8 hours ago

    Woman who lives in underground bunker with no windows reveals how much she saves on rent

    At least she's ready for the apocalypse

    News
  • 8 hours ago

    Man who chose to live underwater for 100 days to see what would happen to his body reveals shocking impact it had

    Dr Joseph Dituri spent 100 days at sea in 2023

    News
  • Company Is Planning 'Real Life Jurassic Park' With Woolly Mammoths Brought Back To Life
  • Biohacker, 45, who spends $2m a year trying to de-age himself gets injected with the blood of teenage son