use it on strangers
from fossilesque@mander.xyz to science_memes@mander.xyz on 13 Apr 10:40
https://mander.xyz/post/28081358

#science_memes

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Mothra@mander.xyz on 13 Apr 11:37 next collapse

Love this one

theneverfox@pawb.social on 13 Apr 12:36 next collapse

Also, what is the game plan here? To sell GMO exhibits to zoos? To try to do a Jurassic Park, but without dinosaurs?

ryedaft@sh.itjust.works on 13 Apr 12:57 next collapse

They are making game of thrones real. Lots of whores and titties, big ass wolves, religious cults taking over government, zombies, crucifixions, people being eaten by dragons.

meyotch@slrpnk.net on 13 Apr 13:42 collapse

No incest? :(

xeekei@lemm.ee on 13 Apr 17:17 collapse

Be the change you wanna see in the world.

Agent641@lemmy.world on 13 Apr 13:46 next collapse

Releasing wolves in Yellowstone stabilised the ecosystem there. Releasing direwolves on Wall St might stabilise the economy.

JackGreenEarth@lemm.ee on 13 Apr 15:42 next collapse

The wolves of wall street?

theneverfox@pawb.social on 13 Apr 15:57 collapse

I’d watch that

BrazenSigilos@ttrpg.network on 13 Apr 16:57 collapse

Might need to make the location change to Pennsylvania Ave for a greater effect.

GreatTitEnthusiast@mander.xyz on 13 Apr 16:44 next collapse

The point is to get people excited so they can get funding to keep developing the technologies that will make this kind of genetic engineering commercially viable

theneverfox@pawb.social on 14 Apr 16:14 collapse

Sure… But now they’ve got these wolves for the next 14 years

They can’t “reextinct” dire wolves or release them, so they’re now in the zoo business one way or the other

Cethin@lemmy.zip on 13 Apr 17:47 next collapse

In an ideal world, it’d be to de-extinct fairly modern things that filled a niche that is no longer being filled. This is far from an ideal world though, and the reason in this world is to make press releases to get people talking about it so they can raise more money while not creating anything of actual value.

Obi@sopuli.xyz on 13 Apr 19:46 next collapse

Probably start with one or a few cool scientists with that original purpose, then by the time it can take life it’s gone through the enshittification machine.

theneverfox@pawb.social on 13 Apr 21:59 collapse

Okay let’s play that out… Everyone gets excited, they make big strong wolves and get funding… Now what?

They’ve got a pack of extra big wolves raised under human care. Do they kill them? Do they sell them? Do they open their own park? Do they just keep them for study? Do they just leave the gate open and let them go?

Cethin@lemmy.zip on 13 Apr 22:38 collapse

I don’t think you read my comment. They wouldn’t bring back dire wolves that don’t have a niche in the current ecosystem. They’d bring back things that have gone extinct in the last century or so, or maybe artificially modify existing creatures to fit niches that are no longer filled. This project isn’t doing what would happen in an ideal world. It’s only making garbage to sell to investors to make a bunch of money and bail.

theneverfox@pawb.social on 13 Apr 23:20 collapse

I understand that, but the wolves are living things that require expert care. This isn’t some cat they can take home or some mouse they can quietly put down… They’re stuck with them

If they kill them, they’d get death threats (people are already attached). If the wolves escape, they’d get protesters. People will likely come to try to see the wolves, the wolves will try to escape and become extra aggressive if they’re understimulated

Good PR stunts don’t require you to run a zoo for the next 14 years - and whether they allow guests or not, they’ll need a team of people, including round the clock security, to take care of them

So unless they can sell them to someone, every success they have pushes them further into becoming Jurassic Park, but with less cool animals

pineapplelover@lemm.ee on 13 Apr 20:40 next collapse

I just watched some youtube video and they were talking about how the CIA and big moneys people are heavily invested in this company. Makes me think they’re in it to make genetically modified animals or even people for “national security” or something.

eutsgueden@lemm.ee on 13 Apr 21:25 collapse

National security? Nah, those ghouls want to live forever.

qarbone@lemmy.world on 13 Apr 21:38 next collapse

To say they did?

theneverfox@pawb.social on 13 Apr 22:07 collapse

And now they have a pack of XL sized wolves… That’s not like making a glow in the dark cat, that’s either the main plan or a very big problem

DogWater@lemmy.world on 14 Apr 19:31 collapse

Gattaca

quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 15 Apr 13:37 collapse

This is exactly it. This is just training for children customisation.

DogWater@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 15:05 collapse

Yeah everyone is asking what they are going to do with these animals they create and the answer is nothing once they get good enough at it to do it to humans lmao

bleistift2@sopuli.xyz on 13 Apr 12:57 next collapse

Same question: If a species evolves to adapt to a changed environment, is the original species extinct?

Yes, yes it is. That’s why a species ‘going extinct’ doesn’t always mean that it suddenly died off.

meyotch@slrpnk.net on 13 Apr 13:43 collapse

I think the term for that is chronospecies?

[deleted] on 13 Apr 16:00 next collapse

.

FilthyShrooms@lemmy.world on 13 Apr 17:27 next collapse

Nah that’s a great way to start a conversation

ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org on 13 Apr 20:23 next collapse

They did have the genome, right? Why not just clone that? They could then add mutations in the amount that normally occurs in grey wolf populations to get a sufficiently diverse population going.

InFerNo@lemmy.ml on 13 Apr 22:01 collapse

Fill in the gaps with frog DNA

Kolanaki@pawb.social on 13 Apr 22:03 collapse

“It’s okay, they can’t breed in captivity. They’re all female.”

Frog DNA: “Not so fast…”

TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee on 13 Apr 21:44 next collapse

Would they be able to do it with god-like perfection, or would it only be a grey wolf that resembles our idea of dire wolves based only on what we’ve been able to learn?

Kolanaki@pawb.social on 13 Apr 22:02 next collapse

I wouldn’t call it de-extinction unless they made something that is 100% identical genetically to the thing they are bringing back.

TriflingToad@sh.itjust.works on 14 Apr 00:22 next collapse

de-extinction ≈ decompilation, apparently

javiwhite@feddit.uk on 14 Apr 11:16 collapse

Does that make extinction a form of obfuscation?

gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de on 15 Apr 23:54 collapse

extinction is when the great library burns down.

Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de on 14 Apr 09:23 next collapse

or like, actually looks like what we think they looked, rather than what was depicted in a fictional story

hansolo@lemm.ee on 14 Apr 10:00 collapse

And they don’t have 100% of the dire wolf DNA sequenced, nor do they have DNA of the dire wolf’s extinct ancestor between it and Canis lupus. It’s a grey wolf with genes from a dire wolf added in.

Wilco@lemm.ee on 13 Apr 22:51 next collapse

Haha … but seriously … does it? I don’t think so. Now if they brought back that rhino species that just went extinct that would count.

gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de on 15 Apr 23:53 collapse

most genetic differences happen on the biochemical level, i.e. different hormones and metabolism. superficial appearance is only a (very) small part of what defines a species. so i guess the answer is: not really, no.