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  • What do saber-toothed tigers,

  • woolly mammoths

  • and the dodo all have in common?

  • They're all extinct.

  • And some theorize humans played a large part in this.

  • This is WHAT IF, and here's what would happen

  • if extinct animals could be brought back to life.

  • One day, this might not be a hypothetical,

  • as science is getting closer to bringing extinct animals back.

  • Known as de-extinction, it's the process of bringing extinct animals back from the dead.

  • What used to be science fiction is slowly becoming a reality.

  • It's possible that this might happen one day but,

  • unfortunately, you won't be seeing any dinosaurs.

  • Why?

  • Well, that's because, in order for this de-extinction process to work,

  • a species' DNA needs to be of a certain age.

  • Scientists say that DNA becomes unreadable after 1.5 million years,

  • after that amount of time it's practically useless.

  • So dinosaurs that went extinct 65 million years ago are ineligible for this experiment.

  • Sorry.

  • But if the species is young enough, and the DNA happens to be readable,

  • then scientists can use it for genome editing.

  • One of the ways this could work would be using the DNA from extinct species

  • and fusing it with its closest animal relative currently living today.

  • One of the animals that scientists say is eligible for de-extinction?

  • The woolly mammoth.

  • Small mammoth populations were still alive just 3,600 years ago.

  • Experts believe that this species could have survived extinction

  • if it wasn't for humans hunting them.

  • One potential way mammoth de-extinction could work

  • is if scientists were to combine woolly mammoth DNA with that of elephants alive today.

  • Over time these hybrid animals

  • could slowly morph into full-on mammoths, effectively bringing the species back.

  • This might take a few thousand years but,

  • over time mammoths could be roaming the Earth again.

  • If this method were to work,

  • think of all the incredible animals we could have back in our world.

  • The 12-foot-tall giant short-faced bear, hairless dogs,

  • and of course the loveable dodo bird.

  • Just remember to be wary of the saber-toothed tigers that would be running around.

  • You don't want to mess with those.

  • If we wanted to get weird, we could even bring back Neanderthals,

  • although that could be incredibly dangerous and would ultimately be a stupid idea.

  • This species would die pretty quickly as they

  • just wouldn't be able to survive in our current world.

  • With our diets, germs, and diseases, Neanderthals wouldn't last long.

  • That goes for all these other animals we're bringing back too.

  • Sure, in theory, they should be able to adapt over time,

  • but there are tons of other issues that may come with bringing a species back from extinction.

  • One thing we'd need to be worried about is just how do we control these species?

  • We wouldn't want a giant short-faced bear mating with other bears -

  • that could present a number of unknown issues.

  • But what's to stop them from doing it anyway?

  • Another question science would need to ask is what exactly is the point of all this?

  • Sure being able to ride a woolly mammoth would be amazing but is it really worth it?

  • What kind of purpose are these animals serving other than the sake of our entertainment?

  • And there exists the possibility that these new animals would disrupt the current ecosystems we have today,

  • leading to other animals going extinct because of them.

  • One good thing de-extinction could do is

  • bring back essential animals we have today that might become extinct.

  • Bees have long been talked about as a species that may go extinct relatively soon.

  • If de-extinction technology is finally realized, maybe we'll never need to worry about it happening.

  • But that also raises some concern.

  • If that was our reality, people may think it was okay for things to go extinct

  • since we could always bring them back.

  • This could cause an increase in hunting, and a general carelessness for animals all around the world.

  • Bringing back a species may sound like an incredible idea but,

  • the risks and unpredictability of it are huge.

  • Maybe it's just best to take care of what we have now

  • and make sure it doesn't happen again.

  • But what if everyone and everything went extinct, but you?

  • Well, that sounds like a question for another WHAT IF.

What do saber-toothed tigers,

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