Well, they’ve finally done it. Readers of a certain vintage may recall seeing Jurassic Park in full theatre mode, and being blown away by nature run amok. Or, more to the point, Man’s intervention in nature by bringing back long-extinct species – in the film, dinosaurs – by extracting their DNA (from mosquitoes trapped in amber).
As often happens – with video calls in Aliens and the communicator cell-phones in Star Trek, even if we’re still waiting for the replicator and simulator – science fiction becomes science fact. A start-up company, Colossal, has brought the Dire Wolf back from extinction after 10,000 years They found DNA – or large chunks of it – in a preserved skull and tooth. The missing bits of said genetic material – it was 10,000 years old – were then completed using human and artificial intelligence, implanted in an empty ovum, the clone placed in a surrogate (a large dog), and, lo and behold, three puppies ensued, two males (Romulus and Remus, of course), and a female (Khaleesi).
They have plans to bring back all sorts of lost and gone species: The wooly mammoth and Dodo bird amongst them.
We will see where this goes. Neanderthal Man? There’s a lot of interest out there. The company started with $16 million, and is now valued at over $10 billion. One of their backers was Peter Jackson, who may have an interest in bringing back real-life hobbits.
There are issues. Cloned animals are prey to any number of health problems, from ageing rapidly to genet and desired species – beautiful, majestic, white wolves – can become invasive species, or simply die off for the same reasons they went extinct in the first place. And we should beware the warnings of Dr. Ian Malcolm, the fictional leather-jacketed-cool-know-it-all scientist from the film, here and here. Sure, it’s cheese, and Colossus is not InGen, but there’s truth there, and nostalgic to watch. Boy, the nineties were a whole different time.
After three decades, it is wonderful to see what Man, made in the image of the God the Creator, can do. The question is, what should we do with the power we’re given, and will God place a limit on what we may do with His creation?
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you. (James 4:10)