Ethics and the Cloning of the Wooly Mammoth
On the fifth of July nineteen ninety-six science had taken an extraordinary leap forward in its first successful cloning of an animal, a sheep named Dolly. This event shook the world and the core beliefs of many. "It was impossible, we thought, for a cell from an adult mammal to become reprogrammed, to start all over again, to generate another entire animal or person in the image of the one born earlier" (Silver). Currently, science is about to take another substantial leap as scientists are on the verge of collecting enough deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA, of a long extinct creature and are in the process of cloning the wooly mammoth. This very idea challenges the worlds morality and if they are able to succeed what profound repercussions could occur? The world needs to become more involved with such an important event as it unfolds. Cloning the wooly mammoth is incredibly difficult and controversial because it is ethically challenging, it will impact all species that exist today, and it'll be beneficial to the health of our species today.
"The learning and knowledge that we have, is, at most, but little compared with that of which we are ignorant" (Plato). Cloning is on the cusp of taking the next step towards the future and in that step forward ethics will be challenged in the cloning a mammoth. Author Robin McKie says, "what right have we got to recreate one or two and then keep them in solitary confinement at zoos or research facilities?" This should be a red flag to the public and would cloning a mammoth stop here, probably not. If cloning a sheep can be done, then a mammoth, what could be said about cloning a human thereafter? The concept of cloning a species, let alone an extinct one, can sweep one away in an awe aspiring fantasy, but once it becomes a reality morality kicks in and one can think to their self that something wrong has been created. It is not necessarily an abomination since it was not given the choice to enter this world but may be an abomination of events that transpired to re-creating an extinct animal. One might say that by cloning a wooly mammoth that it would be playing God but as humans we attempt to control the environment around us and create medicine that deters death. This is suggestive that humans as a species already plays God every day without fully acknowledging it. Professor Julian Savulescu and Russell Powell suggest that in bringing an animal back from extinction should be, through careful study, what is in the scientists interest by doing so and that the animal should live a good life.
Would it be in our best interest to use a substantial amount of money towards cloning a mammoth when that money could be used saving and preserving the animals or environments that are currently declining? Curiosity should not be the tipping point that induces action towards cloning an extinct animal. Morally as a species we should care for the environment and the species that dwell in those areas first and foremost. While searching for genetic material to complete the DNA sequence of the wooly mammoth the areas being scoured for that material are being destroyed by high pressure water and digging in a frantic search to excavate it as quick as possible. Areas in Siberia where the temperature is so frigid that it is able to leave mammoth remains intact, hair and all, but the all of this digging comes at a cost of the environment. Although the excitement of finding perfect specimen that closely resembles the way they once were create this urge to search as if it were hidden treasure, is it ethical to be the scourge of that area?
Once they have recovered enough intact specimens from the areas that have been searched they will need to create an environment for the animal that they are trying to bring back. This area may contain extinct plants or other species that may no longer be indigenous to that area and that would have to be implemented to create environment that the wooly mammoth could be studied in. This will be a challenge that many of the scientists will have to overcome to create accurate data when studying this animal. Scientists will then need to procure DNA from extinct plants from the animal's era of life and that may be harder to get hold of than the mammal itself. If they were to succeed in this endeavor it could impact the environment where the animal had been placed to occupy. The newly introduced species may overtake other organisms that live in the vicinity and spread to other areas if not contained properly. The same scenario would apply to species that are no longer indigenous to the habitat of the wooly mammoth and they would have to be transplanted to that habitat. It would not be morally correct to resurrect an animal that has been extinct for thousands of years for the purpose of keeping it in a zoo like dwelling. We could not ethically allow the clone to free roam in an environment that could be a danger to itself or others.
This on itself can impact all living things indirectly or directly by the sheer introduction of an extinct species. The cloned animal could possibly introduce disease that the current populous of species would not be able fend off. This effectively would cause a ripple effect killing off other species that currently were not extinct. There is a lot of unknowns with this scenario as there is with others since cloning an extinct species and being successful has never been done before, only time will tell. "Let no one think for a moment," he warned. "that any vanishing species can at any time to be brought back; for that would be a grave error" (Minteer). Cloning a wooly mammoth can inhibit habitual tendencies in human nature and hinder how we respect the world around us. Once we have reached this outlandish but realistic goal of cloning a wooly mammoth we may decide to take it upon ourselves that is ok to bring other extinct species back from the dead. Eventually our species would believe this is common place and we may not recognize the danger we are causing to certain species until they are gone because we could just bring them back at will. This could possibly lead to dangers unknown to us effectively manipulating our world around us without the wisdom to correcting an issue before it becomes too late. "What initially seems like a curiosity actually prompts a deep question about the role of humans in directing the future course of life on this planet" (Savulescu and Powell).The balance of nature is very delicate and it will destroy us before we destroy it, so we must ere on the side caution when making such big decisions as if our lives depended upon it.
The author Ben Minteer has said, "But we can't reverse the "founding human mistake" by simply bringing back a few, or even a few scores of lost species (as difficult as that would be to pull off). That's because wiping out the passenger pigeon, the heath hen, the Tasmanian tiger, and so on, as regrettable as these events were, wasn't the real mistake. It was only the indicator of a deeper moral and cultural malady." This quote does not directly refer to the wooly mammoth but to cloning and does infer the impact of such a leap in science. The cultural and morality of our species depends upon the choices we make when creating a wooly mammoth since it is monumental when comparing to the passenger pigeon or the Tasmanian tiger that have been recently extinct by human interaction. Already existing species that have made their home where other species have once lived will be impacted be creating much more demand on those food supplies and the area of living if research went beyond studying the animal. This is a scenario that if we as a species decided to take it upon ourselves to further the growth of an extinct species and possibly completely resurrect this once extinct species. It is unknown how other species will react to the wooly mammoth if reintroduced or if it would be embraced.
These other species may slowly dwindle in populations with their sources of food rapidly decreasing due to the demand from the wooly mammoth and this may cause us to resurrect that species that just declined to our recent creation. The long-term effects of cloning are not well-known and this possible continuation of resurrection between species may inflict more harm to our planet than we could possibly understand. Species that may be experiencing a current growth in their population due to natural circumstance may be impeded if located in the same environment that the clones have been placed. The possibility for error is similar to that of a sci-fi horror movie and Jurassic Park just covers the fear of introducing extinct carnivorous to a contained area. In that movie, the excitement of bringing back a dinosaur from extinction is profound and the real dangers of those species is that they have not co-existed with mankind creating a hostile environment. Without enough information about the species that have been experienced it could lead to a disastrous effect. Later in the movie the extinct species break free from their zoo theme park and begin to attack the guests and employees that reside there. Although the wooly mammoth was not a "meat-eater" we are not entirely sure how they would react to us once resurrected from extinction.
Introducing a new species may have other much bigger impacts to the world that we may not realize. The extinct species may bring about disease that could spread to other species creating a cycle of death to other species. Other forms of diseases may spread to the vegetation and possibly to the crops we rely on to survive. This is another unknown that cloning an extinct species may bring about with or without extreme caution towards its creation. There are a lot of unknowns to a species that have been extinct for over a thousand years, if not longer, and without enough information of how certain species passed during those eras of time it could be a grave miscalculation that we missed because of our curiosity. Overpopulation of the extinct species is another stake in the cloning process that could possibly impact us and other animals. Our curiosity could lead to a variety of land set aside for the wooly mammoth all of the world for the us to view, like a zoo. This could push out other species that are contained within those areas creating disturbances in the food chain all the world. Though this scenario is less likely to occur it is a possibility one should consider when tampering with a species that has been wiped from this world for so long.
However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel from the stresses of the unknown in the area of cloning a wooly mammoth. Cloning a wooly mammoth could create aid to our species that we never knew existed. "One biomedical application of the cloning technique is genetically modifying animals so that their cells and organs can be transplanted into humans" ("What are the Potential"). If cloning a mammoth were to succeed it would be a leap in the science community and possibly lead to an acceleration in the field of growing organs for humans who are in need. Also through experimentation of cloning they will able to grow organs from the animal and be able to donate that organ to a human where their body would not reject it. Another application this cloning process may create is the viability to regrow limbs for humans or other species and the process of obtaining the ability to do so would come from the cloning of this extinct animal.
Through the process of growing cells to create an embryo of a wooly mammoth by impregnating an African elephant they could possibly create ways for implementing cells to our skin to create a youthful appearance. This means they may possibly be able to identify the specific DNA that causes us to age and turn back time on a dermic level. This is one thing mankind has sought after as legend but could possibly become reality with the creating of a foundation for a "fountain of youth" through this experimentation. "Many other diseases could be treated by the transplantation of genetically altered cells. For example, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Huntington's diseases are caused by the death of specific cells in the brain" ("What are the Potential"). This quote conveys the idea that through the continuation of experimentation with cloning it could lead to other ground-breaking concepts, such as curing a variety of diseases. The cure for certain diseases arising from the experimentation of cloning is just a stepping stone to other great possibilities. Vaccines could eventually be created that could help cure cancer or even save other species facing diseases that could cause them to be extinct.
There could be other medical benefits by cloning animals and that is a positive note to ponder upon when deciding if this process should continue. There is a downside to finding medical cures through this process though. Diseases that humans experience and other species do without having similar symptoms would lead that to be un-curable through this process. Aids is an example of a disease that humans suffer but no other species experiences symptoms that are the same so that would be one disease that cloning would not be able to take care of. There may be other problems that cloning would not be able to help. That may include bringing back species that may become extinct since living tissue is substantially better for creating a clone, although the mammoth is on the verge of becoming a reality in cloning. The wooly mammoth falls into a very narrow scenario that led scientists to come this far and even farther in the future. The long-term benefit for saving a species is preventing disease and cloning can manifest cures that will help prevent certain extinctions, although not all. By altering genes through cloning scientists are able to manipulate that information by preventing a disease that impacts any particular species. While cloning is still in its infancy it has come leaps and bounds from where it once was. From a successfully cloned sheep to the verge of a cloned extinct wooly mammoth co-existing with us present day has it pros and cons. The medical benefits far outweigh the cons within its own realm but looking at the overall process and impact this amazing science could create should be viewed more carefully.
It is hard to decide if it is ethical to continue this process. What weight would this burden our species if we do succeed in this science fiction escapade? On one side, it could impact every known species on earth if we are not careful on how we carry out this cloning but on another the genetic answers we will unlock that could aid in our survival. The morality of this endeavor should be approached with a microscope and the watchful eyes of the world in hope that we do not make the mistake of interfering with our natural environment. The revelations that may rise beyond this experimentation and excitement could very well impact all species for the better. The creation of vaccines and the growth of organs or limbs could be used to help a variety of species including ourselves. The cloning of the wooly mammoth will still be a very difficult task to take on but if we do succeed it'll be determined by the course of our ethical actions. It has the ability to affect everything on this planet and whether that will be for better or for worse is up to us. There is a few beneficial outcomes that can mitigate problems that are medical or physical and that may tip the balance to continue the research and creation of a cloned wooly mammoth. Overall this leap of science should be treaded upon carefully and we should become more involved in events that make history where this could make or break it.
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