De-Extinction:
Associated Questions
Article: Bringing Them Back to Life by Carl Zimmer
1) As of this writing, what is the only species of mammal that has been brought back from extinction, albeit
only temporarily?
2) The dodo, great auk, thylacine, Chinese river dolphin, passenger pigeon, imperial woodpecker, and
the bucardo are all extinct. What is the common cause of their extinctions?
3) According to the article, what is about the farthest back in time can we go to get viable DNA? Would
the dinosaurs fit within this time frame?
4) According to Sergey Zimov, what was the role of mammoths in the Siberian tundra ecosystem?
5) If the Sooam researchers do not find a viable mammoth cell, is there still the possibility that they
could produce a cell with Mammoth DNA? How?
6) Describe what it would have been like to see a flock of passenger pigeons in the early 1800’s.
7) What species of organism are Michael Archer and his colleagues working to bring back now? Why is
this such a good candidate?
Video: Recipe for Resurrection.
Number the following statements in the order they would occur to in order to resurrect a passenger pigeon.
______ Produce Passenger Pigeon stem cells by swapping key bits of Rock Pigeon DNA with Passenger
Pigeon DNA.
______ Compare Passenger Pigeon DNA to the DNA of the Rock Pigeon.
______ Hatch the eggs and “Voila!”, you have a Passenger Pigeon.
______ Convert the Passenger Pigeon stem cells into germ cells.
______ Assemble a complete genome of Passenger Pigeon DNA from museum specimens.
______ Insert Passenger Pigeon germ cells into the eggs of the Rock Pigeon.
______ Hatch Rock Pigeons that carry Passenger Pigeon sperm and eggs, raise them, and mate them so
they produce Passenger Pigeon eggs.
______ Identify and synthesize mutations unique to Passenger Pigeons.
Interactives:
What We've Lost: Species Extinction Time Line
1) Which class of animal has lost the most species since 1600?
2) How many species of animals were listed as extinct during the 1980’s?
3) Which species is the animal most recently listed as being extinct?
4) Pick one of the listed species that interests you, give its common and latin name, where it lived,
date of extinction, and cause of extinction.
How to make a Mammoth.
1) What are the two main options on how to “make” a mammoth?
2) Explain the first method.
3) The second method breaks down into two further options. Compare these two options within the
Cloning from a Frozen Cell section.
Watch the video: Beth Shapiro – “Ancient DNA: What It Is and What It Could Be”
1) What is Beth Shapiro’s Job?
2) What makes the arctic a good place to look for DNA?
3) What are the 7 steps of De-extinction?
4) How many species genomes are 100% known?
5) What is heterochromatin?
6) What are problems associated with sequencing ancient genomes?