We shouldn't clone just because we can

In 2007, a one-month-old baby Woolly mammoth, nearly perfectly preserved, surfaced from her frozen grave where she had laid for 40,000 years. In 2008, scientists brought a piece of Tasmanian tiger DNA, extinct since the 1930s, back to life by inserting it into a mouse embryo. What was perceived as Jurassic Park science fiction is well on its way to becoming reality. It begs the question, is this a good idea?

There are multitudes of potential applications for coning, some of which sound pretty good. Duplication of the perfect food sources, re-birth of a beloved relative or friend, human or not. Just how far are we willing to go in our quest for genetic perfection and immortality?

True, chance are the “Dolly” leg of lamb you just bought will taste as good as the one you had last year. But if you cloned say, Abraham Lincoln, growing up in this day and age, will be still turn out to be presidential material?

Suffice it to say I don’t think we need to revisit Tasmanian tigers and Woolly mammoths, nor any species that is extinct. Their habitat is long gone, and they would only be “freaks” to poke, prod and gawk at for our own amusement and sense of accomplishment. Just because we can doesn’t mean we should

LAURIE WADKINS

Priest River