Daily Protein Science: Politics

Ever fancied your own Mr Snuffleupagus? The dream may not be that far away. Russian scientists claim to have discovered liquid woolly mammoth blood in a frozen carcase in Siberia, which would make cloning a real possibility. An expedition earlier this month, led by scientist Semyon Grigoryev, uncovered the remains of a 60-year-old female mammoth on a remote island in the Arctic Ocean. "This find gives us a really good chance of finding live cells which can help us implement [our] project to clone a mammoth," Grigoryev said. However, many scientists are sceptical. Dolly, the famous cloned sheep, was born after 277 attempts. The discovery has reignited debate over the ethics of cloning. At a conference at Stanford Law School last week, experts debated the ethical, legal and political implications of “de-extinction”. Beth Shapiro, of the University of California at Santa Cruz, expressed concerns about the difficulty of cloning and the inevitable creation of countless deformed and terminal-ill animals. “I think we should consider deeply why we want to de-extinct things" she said. Kate Jones of University College London said that “Conservation biologists worry that if people think we can revive species they won’t care about protecting what’s left". The scientific community also questions the involvement of disgraced South Korean...

Read More........→December 12, 2013 Categories: Animal,Antarctica,Conservation,Politics,Research,Russia,Scientist,University

Putin in hang glider leads Siberian crane flock in migratory flight Vladimir Putin pulled off another of his bizzare stunts when he led a flock of young Siberian white cranes in flight, living up to his action-man image, even as reports said that endangered chicks had died while scientists were setting up the trip. Dressed in a white costume meant to imitate an adult crane, the Russian president was taking part in a project to teach the endangered birds that were raised in captivity to follow the aircraft on their southern migration to Central Asia. Putin has won many admirers with his feats, that have left others less than impressed, starting from 2000 when he flew into Chechnya in the back seat of a fighter jet. He followed it up over the years, with a bare-chested horseback ride through mountains, a Formula One race car drive and piloting a firefighting plane to dump water on wildfires. The flight in the hang glider though hardly cut any ice with the cranes as only one bird followed Putin on his first flight. He attributed it to high winds that caused the hang glider to travel faster than the birds, RIA Novosti news agency reported. He was followed by five birds in his next flight, but after a few circles only two stuck with him through the 15-minute flight. Putin took time off to visit the Kushavet ornithological research...