Q: Talk about new tech.
A: Cloning is something that has been kicking around for a while now, but that alone isn't enough to revive ancient carcasses. The gnomic sample of the wooly mammoth isn't complete, and, with how fragile DNA is, its unlikely they will find an unblemished DNA sample from something millenium old. However, the mammoth has a 99% (How on earth did they get that number without a full sample??) match with Asian Elephants. Using CRISPER, basically DNA scissors, we can splice the mammoth DNA we are able to gather with that of the asian elephant. Pop the fetus into an artificial womb (I bet that thing is huge), and we're ready to rock, roll, and grow a baby mammoth.
Q: Why do it? pros and cons, herbivore flavor.
Cons-- its expensive. and it may not work, even if the science checks out. (see conclusion.)
Pros-- I mean, other than it being super cool? Other than gaining proficiency in a new tool? Other than putting back an ancient keystone creature and restoring an entire biome? Read below.
Q: Please talk about global warming.
Yep, it is a bit of a stopgap to more global warming. Gas is trapped in melting permafrost ice, Mammoths help ice not melt by being themselves (Stomping about, exposing trapped heat, fertilizing insulator grass, in theory this is super helpful) ice is cold, gas stays trapped. However, global warming is A Big Problem and if it gets too hot? No amount of mammoths are going to keep the ground frozen. (I was GOING to mention the yellow stone river-wolf video, but apparently its been proven false. RIP.)
Q: Shiny new tool, how do we use it again? Can it be the solution to all extinction problems? SHOULD we?
A: It's difficult for ancient species. We were extremely fortunate here. We got most of a carcass and a Really Close relative. You cannot bring back anything you don't have the cheat codes for. The species of today that are rapidly disappearing? sure, go ahead, but why not use cloning for that? As for editing them to be better at adapting... Personally it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, but with how warm, and how crowded, and how fast things are getting for species out there? We might have to.
Conclusion: I'm going to mention the elephant in the room. How do we not hunt them to death all over again? Illegal hunting and ivory trade is still happening, anyone without a soul could turn this into a moneymaking slop. We have Not Gotten Rid of the Problem, and this is all a fantastical dream until we do-- and that goes for any other thing we want to bring back. It's science fiction made real, and it has non-fictional consequences. We need to be virtuous, we need to be careful, and we need to clean up our act. This is playing God; we cannot let greed get the best of us.
Ryan J. 2019. Using CRISPR to resurrect the dead. CNET. [accessed 2020 Apr 5]. https://www.cnet.com/features/using-crispr-to-resurrect-the-dead/.
Nova PBS youtube. Bringing back the wooly mammoth video. 2018.
Sandler R. 2014. The ethics of reviving long extinct species. Conserv Biol. 28(2):354–360. doi:10.1111/cobi.12198.
Aparna Vidyasagar. 2018. What Is CRISPR? | Live Science. [accessed 2020 Apr 5]. https://www.livescience.com/58790-crispr-explained.html.