Biology
Biology
12th Edition
ISBN: 9780134813448
Author: Audesirk, Teresa, Gerald, Byers, Bruce E.
Publisher: Pearson,
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Chapter 18.5, Problem 1HYEW

Scientists have cloned a number of animal species, including mice, dogs, cats, horses, and cows. Could the technology of cloning be used to bring back extinct species? In principle, yes, provided that perfectly preserved DNA of the extinct species is available. Such DNA could be transferred to an egg from a closely related, living species, and the egg implanted in a surrogate mother of that species.

For example, researchers have suggested that it might be possible to clone a woolly mammoth, using an elephant surrogate mother and DNA extracted from 20,000-year-old mammoths found frozen beneath the Siberian tundra.

Most scientists, however, believe that any DNA recovered from a fossil mammoth would be far too degraded for use in cloning, and synthesizing an entire mammoth genome (its sequence is now almost fully known) is beyond the capabilities of current technology. The odds of success might be greater for another proposed project, which would use DNA from a preserved museum specimen to revive the Tasmanian tiger, an Australian mammal that has been extinct for only 70 years. If cloning recently extinct species proves to be possible, do you think it would be a good idea?

If Extinct Species Can Be Revived by Cloning?

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What are some of the technical challenges of cloning a mammoth?  Check all that are true   Ancient mammoth DNA has degraded so it is hard to know the complete genome sequence   Mammoth gestation time is likely too short to allowing cloning   A living surrogate mother would have to be used, which could pose problems since the closest relative to mammoths is endangered elephants   A living oocyte would have to be obtained from an extant species, which could pose problems since the closest relative to mammoths is endangered elephants   Mammoths lived so long ago that they used a different genetic code than modern animals   There are no enzymes in existence that could ligate together mammoth DNA sequence with elephant sequence   Mammoths probably had egg shells, which would be hard to penetrate with a needle
If you had the ability to do gene editing with ONE gene for the betterment of human kind, which one would you choose, and why?  Assume you could either change an abnormal allele associated with a disease, such as the cystin gene associated with Cystic Fibrosis to its normal wild type, or add a pre-existing human allele to a genome.
Humans have engaged in genetic manipulation for millennia, producing plant and animal varieties through selective breeding and hybridization that significantly modify genomes of organisms. Why do you think modern genetic engineering, which often entails introducing or modifying only one or a few genes, has met with so much opposition? Should some forms of genetic engineering be of greater concern than others? Explain.

Chapter 18 Solutions

Biology

Ch. 18.4 - Prob. 1TCCh. 18.4 - Does the mudskippers ability to walk on land...Ch. 18.4 - Can ancient DNA reveal the secrets of dinosaur...Ch. 18.4 - Although it may never be possible to recover DNA...Ch. 18.4 - describe the transitions and innovations...Ch. 18.4 - describe the advantages gained by the first plants...Ch. 18.5 - Scientists have cloned a number of animal species,...Ch. 18.5 - explain how extinction has affected the course of...Ch. 18.5 - describe the likely causes of mass extinctions in...Ch. 18.6 - We might be able to more easily distinguish...Ch. 18.6 - Paleontologists recently discovered fossil...Ch. 18.6 - describe the evolutionary history of humans and...Ch. 18.6 - name and describe some characteristics of the...Ch. 18.6 - describe the key features of the most recent phase...Ch. 18.6 - The unexpected discovery that humans interbred...Ch. 18 - Almost all of the oxygen gas in todays atmosphere...Ch. 18 - Extinction a. generally does not occur except...Ch. 18 - In the endosymbiotic origin of the mitochondrion,...Ch. 18 - Which of the following does not list evolutionary...Ch. 18 - Prob. 5MCCh. 18 - Because there was no oxygen in the earliest...Ch. 18 - The molecule _________ became a candidate for the...Ch. 18 - Complex cells that contain a nucleus and other...Ch. 18 - The Sperm of early land plants had to reach the...Ch. 18 - Prob. 5FIBCh. 18 - Prob. 6FIBCh. 18 - Prob. 7FIBCh. 18 - What is the evidence that life might have...Ch. 18 - How did the origin of photosynthesis affect...Ch. 18 - Explain the endosymbiont hypothesis for the origin...Ch. 18 - Name two advantages of multicellularity for plants...Ch. 18 - What advantages and disadvantages would...Ch. 18 - Prob. 6RQCh. 18 - Prob. 7RQCh. 18 - Extinctions have occurred throughout the history...Ch. 18 - In biological terms, what do you think was the...
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