McCormick 1

Emerson McCormick

Mr.Smith

Honors Junior Literature

November 8, 2023

The Wooly Mammoth coming back from extinction

Most scientists concede that climate change is one of the biggest threats that

Earth faces. However, some scientists believe they have come up with a creative

solution; the Wooly Mammoth. The Wooly Mammoth went extinct close to 4,000 years

ago, due to the extreme rise in temperature that dramatically reduced their habitat, and

along with humans overhunting the species. Genetically engineering the Wooly

Mammoth back from extinction has the potential to reduce the impact of climate change,

but the other hand, bringing back the species presents both moral and societal

consequences.

Bringing the Wooly Mammoth out of extinction has the potential to reduce the

impact of climate change dramatically. Wooly Mammoths could bring balance back to

the carbon cycle by reducing the amount of carbon released. Mammoths could graze on

vegetation such as grasslands and forests which would prevent overgrowth and reduce

the possibility of wildfires. Wildfires release large amounts of carbon into the

atmosphere, which leads to an increase in temperature (Julian Koplin). Even though the

Wooly Mammoth has been extinct for thousands of years, gene editing has made it

theoretically possible to resurrect this animal back to life. A Harvard University genetics
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professor named George Church, who focuses on gene sequencing, created a

company named Colossal. The company's mission is to bring Wooly Mammoths to the

Arctic tundra. Colossal plans to take the closest living relative, the Asian Elephant, and

modify its genes within the nucleus of the cells. The genetically modified elephant would

evolve in an engineered endometrium, then be placed in an artificial womb. The

company modifies the gene by taking samples of the Asian elephant nucleus then

modifies the cell by adding Wooly Mammoth DNA (Clifford, Catherine). The idea of gene

modification showcases the possibility of a Wooly Mammoth being able to live on our

planet once again and may be able to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Two of the major concerns science has with bringing the Wooly Mammoth back

from extinction is their ability to survive on Earth and what their quality of life would be.

The Wooly Mammoth went extinct because of rising temperatures and over-hunting by

humans (Hilfrank, Elizabeth). Moreover, the habitat in which the Wooly Mammoth used

to livin is vastly different from the one the species would need to occupy today. The

current environment has a warmer temperature and a smaller range, which brings into

question if it is even possible for the Wooly Mammoth to survive on their own in the wild

without the assistance of humans. Although reviving the Wooly Mammoth to address

climate change remains a theoretical concept, it may not even be possible for the Wooly

Mammoth to survive independently on Earth. In addition to the possibility of the Wooly

Mammoth not being able to survive on Earth, many people question the quality of life

the animal would have. A blog post written on the Connect U.S dives into the quality of

life the Wooly Mammoth could experience, “The world has changed so much since their

time; with their habitat gone, all they could hope for is a life in zoos, and that would be
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pathetic (Chief, Editor in).” Many feel the Wooly Mammoth would experience an

extremely poor quality of life, and it is morally wrong to genetically engineer an animal to

live in a world in which they couldn't survive independently. This very similar scenario is

something that appeared in the film Jurassic park. In the movie, humans were

reintroduced to an extinct species which caused mass chaos and unforeseen

consequences. If this scenario is applied to a Wooly Mammoth, the species would be

reintroduced to a world it hasn’t lived in for thousands of years, forcing the animal to

dwell in a smaller area, resulting in widespread pandemonium for society. The Wooly

Mammoth survival and quality of life are two areas that should be considered when

deciding whether to bring the animals back.

The risk of genetically engineering the Wooly Mammoth back to life has major

consequences for society. National Geographic held an interview with Ben Mezrich who

is best known for writing the book, The True Story of the Quest to Revive One of

History's Most Iconic Extinct Species. In the interview, the two discussed the possibility

of using DNA remnants to potentially help scientists bring back the mammoth. However,

Mezrich states,“The material within the carcasses has been degraded over 3,000 to

12,000 years due to radiation and bad conditions (“We Could Resurrect the Woolly

Mammoth”).” Having the only genetic evidence of the Wooly Mammoth being thousands

of years old presents countless risks for the environment and society. Over time, DNA

becomes more damaged, which could lead to errors and complications when cloning or

during the genetic engineering progress. To increase the success, scientists prefer to

use a well preserved sample because it provides a better blueprint for the recreation
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process. Along with ancient DNA samples being a problem for scientists, society needs

to constitute the potential diseases that a Wooly Mammoth could carry.

Understanding the condition the Wooly Mammoth lived in before going extinct is

crucial before considering the consequence of bringing this species back to life. Dr

Rebekah Rogers, who researches mammoths at Berkeley, says the Wooly Mammoths

had a “genomic meltdown” before going extinct. A genomic meltdown is a harmful

mutation that is caused by the environment and an error within the genetic code. This

makes it difficult for a species to survive, and in some cases, can even lead to

extinction. From looking at fossils of the Wooly Mammoth, scientists can see that the

genomic meltdown caused one Wooly Mammoth to have many diseases, lose their

sense of smell, and change the texture of their coat (Briggs, Helen). Dr. Rogers and

many other scientists believe that bringing back to life the Wooly Mammoth could

devastate our ecosystem and bring back ancient diseases that could wipe out large

populations of living creatures of Earth.

In theory, bringing back the Wooly Mammoth seems to be an innovative way to

attack climate change, nevertheless the negative moral and societal consequences

outweigh the benefits. Poor quality of life on Earth and the potential resurgence of

ancient diseases demonstrates the enormous danger of genetically engineered extinct

animals back to life.

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Work Cited

Briggs, Helen. “DNA Clues to Why Woolly Mammoth Died Out.” BBC News, BBC, 3

Mar. 2017, www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39142941.

Chief, Editor in. “13 Biggest Pros and Cons of De-Extinction.” ConnectUS, 20 Sept.

2019, connectusfund.org/13-biggest-pros-and-cons-of-de-extinction.

Clifford, Catherine. “Lab-Grown Woolly Mammoths Could Walk the Earth in Six Years If

Geneticist’s New Start-up Succeeds.” CNBC, CNBC, 15 Sept. 2021,

www.cnbc.com/2021/09/13/geneticist-george-church-gets-funding-for-lab-grown-

woolly-mammoths.html.

Hilfrank, Elizabeth. “Woolly Mammoth.” Animals,

kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/prehistoric/facts/woolly-mammoth#:~:text=

Scientists%20aren%27t%20sure%20exactly,survive%20Earth%27s%20naturally

%20warming%20climate. Accessed 6 Nov. 2023.

Julian Koplin, The University of Melbourne. “Bringing Woolly Mammoths Back from

Extinction Might Not Be Such a Bad Idea - Ethicists Explain.” ArcticToday, 28

Sept. 2021,

www.arctictoday.com/bringing-woolly-mammoths-back-from-extinction-might-not-

be-such-a-bad-idea-ethicists-explain/#:~:text=When%20m

ammoths%20disappeared%20from%20the,fertilizing%20grasses%20with%20the

ir%20feces.
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“We Could Resurrect the Woolly Mammoth. Here’s How.” Education, 2017,

education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/we-could-resurrect-woolly-mammoth-

heres-how/.

H Argument Essay Rubric

Skill Not Yet Foundational Proficient Advanced

Identifies a basic claim Appears in first Thesis establishes a

Thesis paragraph complex claim

Thesis establishes a Establishes

topic and a claim counter-argument in
claim

Topic sentences Topic sentences have Topic sentences have

Claims/Reasons contain basic claims clear and distinct clear and distinct
claims that relate to claims that relate to
the thesis the thesis and make
nuanced points that
consider alternate
perspectives or
counterarguments

Uses some brief Uses multiple pieces Uses a variety of

Evidence examples, or one of evidence (personal evidence (see
example, to support experience, anecdotes, previous column) that
each claim; may all be survey, research etc.) supports each claim;
personal experience to support each claim different types of
evidence in each body
paragraph

Use of reliable outside

sources

Brief explanation of Explains how Provides strong

Analysis how evidence evidence supports explanations of how
supports topic topic sentence/claim evidence supports
sentence of individual of individual topic sentence and the
paragraphs paragraphs and the thesis while also
thesis considering
counterarguments
Includes at least 2
concessions in body Seamlessly mentions
paragraphs concession, and offers
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response/rebuttal

Counter- Makes some mention Structure Well-structured and

Argument of opposing argument counter-argument effective
which: counter-argument
Mentions the which:
opposing argument, Establishes an aspect
some mention of how of the opposing
opposing argument argument, clearly and
may be disproven logically disproves the
argument
Some elements missing Heading is correctly No errors in MLA
MLA Format or some errors in MLA formatted format
format
Pages are numbered

In-text citations are

correctly formatted (if
sources are used)

Works Cited format:

hanging indent,
double-spaced,
alphabetized, starts on
a new page (if sources
are used)

Works Cited: each

source entry is in
correct MLA format (if
sources are used)
Shows evidence of Quotes are correctly Quotes are correctly
Conventions basic proofreading integrated most of the integrated
time (if sources are
used) Shows evidence of
careful proofreading
Follows essay
organization (claims in Includes fluid
topic sentence; transitions between
evidence; analysis; ideas
concluding sentences)
Eliminates wordiness
Shows evidence of
proofreading
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Utilizes mostly simple Some varied sentence Consistently varied

Fluency sentence structures structures sentence structures

Some use of advanced Advanced use of

vocabulary vocabulary; including
use of active verbs