An interesting video from the Google Science Fair 2012. Researchers at Cambridge University (not to be confused with Cambridge College in Massachusetts) use legos to automate the synthesis of artificial bone.
Date: 03.15.2012
Its a story straight out of Jurassic Park! But for some reason, I’m highly doubtful that this will work.
Mammoth remains were uncovered in thawed Siberian permafrost, and scientists around the world have been trying to extract DNA from the remains. Previously, paleobiologists were able to reproduce mammoth blood protein, and Japanese researchers want to resurrect the mammoth within five years. This new project will move forward if the Russian institution, the North-Eastern Federal University of the Sakha Republic, can ship its mammoth remains to the Koreans.
[…]
The plan would work like previous cloning studies that successfully reproduced dogs, a cow, a cat, a pig, a wolf and coyotes. The nuclei of mammoth somatic cells would be implanted into the nuclei of donor elephant eggs, to produce elephant embryos with mammoth DNA. The embryos would then be implanted in elephant wombs, where they would gestate for 22 months. The team plans to use an Indian elephant for the cell nucleus transfer, according to AFP.
But I guess it’s worth a shot. What can go wrong, right? (Everything.) But how cool would a modern woolly mammoth be?
[Source] Popular Science
Aside: The researcher in charge of this project, Hwang Woo-suk, is quite controversial. He previously claimed to have cloned a human embryo and used the clone to generate stem cells. But his methods for obtaining the embryo was later called into question and his results turned out to have been falsified. He served a sentence for embezzlement and bioethics violations for his actions.