Woolly: The True Story of the Quest to Revive One of History's Most Iconic Extinct Creatures

A reader with a meager science background should not be deterred by the genetic and bio-technological vocabulary of this book. Mezrich's writing is both clear and entertaining throughout. Above all, this is a hopeful book in a time when many feel despair. The author's main "character" is George Church, a Harvard geneticist who spear-headed the Human Genome Project to sequence the genetic code of humans. He has also developed the Personal Genome Project to sequence the genes of people who know they are carrying genetic disorders for serious diseases. The hope is to identify defective genes and replace them so that future generations do not need to suffer. A second hope is presented in restoring extinct flora and fauna of our ecosystems through biotechnology. Since the extinction of the dinosaur, we have never faced such a rapid loss of species than we experience today. Over time, using biotechnology, we can restore and protect thousands of plants and animals which are currently extinct or endangered. The author discusses the work of Stewart Brand, co-founder and president of the Revive and Restore Project which has this as its mission. Finally, this book provides hope for the use of genetics to reverse the effects of climate change. With the "revival" of the woolly mammoth and other large herbivores to the tundra, our planet's largest biome, we may prevent the massive release of carbon dioxide and methane due to the melting of permafrost. It is a clean way to reverse the warming of our planet's atmosphere.The book includes a forthright discussion about the concerns for "scientists playing God" and tinkering with the make-up of organisms. But we have reached a tipping point in terms of the current and future survival for all living organisms on Earth. By reading this book, you too can be both informed and hopeful.

Ben Mezrich is the super-ninja warrior of cutting edge, even controversial (The 38th Parallel) science stories. The main argument presented in this book, of large herbivores like the mammoth having an essential function in maintaining arctic ecosystems is fascinating. As a dinosaur geek, science teacher, and even science writer (PLAGUE and INOCULATED), I wish that Mezrich was a friend I could call up and get together with for coffee and a three hour conversation about the direction of modern science.Despite that, I think the best thing about Mezrich's writing is that reading him has the feel of hanging out with a good, amazingly intelligent friend. His writing never loses the personal touch and he does a wonderful job of showing how genetic engineering is really just an information game, and that if you have the information (or something very close to it), bringing back an extinct species should be fairly simple.I also like that Mezrich is always open to the side stories (like the plight of the Asian elephants) which gives his books the feeling of you never knowing what delightful story he is going to tell next.

This is a true story and there appears the first book I've found describinggroups who are trying to resurrect the Woolly Mammoth, though someinformation has appeared in current magazines, see The Atlantic (March 2017).The first question one asks is, "Why would anybody want to clone aWoolly Mammoth?" Turns out, scientists are not trying to clone one, they'retrying to build it from scratch. Possible? Yet to be determined. But, why?It has been discovered that the Mammoth was was an irreplacable link in theglobal food-chain and its loss was a factor leading toward global warming.A genome has been sequenced from frozen specimens, yielding a cell cookbookwhich is more reliable than decayed DNA . The list of ingredients begins withnon-existent stem cells to be manufactured by a natural means that willcost billions. Einstein not needed, you can read about it in everyday English.

As a scientist (meteorologist) and someone who has always been fascinated with prehistoric mammals and dinosaurs I had to read this book.This true quest to revive the Woolly Mammoth is for a very, very good reason and it involves climate change. Scientists have learned that under the melting permafrost of the Arctic lies such a massive quantity of methane and carbon dioxide (two greenhouse gases) that if released could exacerbate the rate of global warming at a more alarming rate than even present day pollution. The Woolly Mammoth would actually help alleviate that melting, but you have to read the book. Dr. George Church is the man behind the genetics research and his spinoff studies have done so much already for humanity that you likely don't know. I'll leave it there... It's a fascinating read and you can find out just how close we are to making this quest a reality.

This book taught me so much about genetic code, and I was so interested in the revive and restore project that it made me want to be a part of it! The reasons for restoring the woolly mammoth were ethically and scientifically sound and gave hope for many endangered species

I live close to the Mammoth Site which is in Hot Springs, South Dakota. I ordered thinking this might be of interest to my Book Club. I was very impressed with the treatment of this subject. It is much too technical for the casual reading I was anticipating. However, it answered many questions for me regarding the obstacles to cloning of any sort.

I loved this book. It's written more like a novel but it's a true story. It was written for people that are not familiar with science to understand but my geneticist daughter found that it made it a boring read for her. I look forward to following the developments of this woolly project!

There are some scientists who would like to bring back mammoths. They don't know how to do it. That is the summary, beginning, middle and end of this book.

Having read and enjoyed all Ben Mezrich's previous non fiction works, I cannot say the same for this novel. I'm saddened to say it, as I was extremely excited when I heard he had a new book coming out.

Great read!

I was a bit disappointed in the book, as I was looking for a semi-scientific update on the chase to resurrect the woolly mammoth. I guess I was expecting something more like one of David Quammen's books, or even Stephen O'Brien's 'Tears of the Cheetah'. This is more in the lines of Michael Crichton. I skimmed through a lot of it, as I didn't really care how someone dressed or what they did or didn't do during their education years. BUT, for many people this might be a good blend of storytelling and fact. If instead you want to get to the nitty-gritty of the scientific/social process of modern-day genetics, this isn't for you.