What is a woolly dog? Is it somehow related to the Woolly Mammoth?
Before we get into that and the rest of my recommended reads, note that I’m finalizing my list of contenders for this year’s The Screamers Science Hype Awards.
Last year The BBC won The Screamers for an article “Baby’s life ‘probably saved’ by umbilical stem cells.” Oof. There really wasn’t any good evidence of that in my view. The 2022 runner-up was on armadillos and miracles. I’m not kidding.
In 2020 former FDA Commissioner Steve Hahn won for some unfortunate statements on COVID. Dang, remember those days?
Do you have any suggestions for the worst science hype (or inaccuracy) in an article, statement, or headline for 2023?
Okay, back to woolly creatures of the past.
Woolly Dog and knitting
A recent WaPo piece by Carolyn Y. Johnson is a fun, interesting read that explains the background of these now-extinct canines. Extinct woolly dog was carefully bred for weaving, ancient DNA confirms. It is sad that these cool dogs are gone. I also recommend this piece from the Vancouver Sun about how woolly dog hair was found in a very old Salish blanket.
The new WaPo piece is based on a Science article on genetics research on these unique canines: The history of Coast Salish “woolly dogs” revealed by ancient genomics and Indigenous Knowledge. The reasons for their extinction are unknown but it is thought that the waves of colonialism that decimated Indigenous peoples likely also negatively impacted woolly dogs.
Woolly dogs were genetically quite different from other members of the dog family.
De-extinct the woolly dog?
Okay, we can agree that Woolly Mammoths were cool animals, but it seems like if someone wants to de-extinct something that a woolly dog might make more sense. It might not only be far more practical to bring some of these woolly dogs back but also more useful. Such a canine de-extinction effort also would not rely on other, living endangered animals the way the Woolly Mammoth project seems to put elephants at risk.
Also see my piece on why de-extincting woolly mammoths is a bad idea. Would de-extincting woolly dogs be a bad idea too?
More recommended reads
- Immusoft Administers the First Engineered B Cell in a Human Clinical Trial, PR. There are many kinds of CAR-T and now designer B cells are coming along too. Here’s the engineered B cell clinical trial using the sleeping beauty transposon.
- Eggs from men, sperm from women: how stem cell science may change how we reproduce, The Conversation.
- ‘Biocomputer’ combines lab-grown brain tissue with electronic hardware, Nature News.
- What’s Your ‘Biological Age’? New tests promise to tell you if you have the cells of a 30-year-old or a 60-year-old. Here’s what to know about them, NYT. This one is interesting but could have used a bit more balance with quotes from skeptical scientists.
- bluebird bio blues. The biotech got FDA approval of its sickle cell gene therapy but everything seems to have gone south anyway. More than 2 years ago there were worries over a cancer risk with what would become the approved Lyfgenia. That risk now is more concretely defined and led to a black box warning label requirement from the FDA. The firm also didn’t get a voucher from the agency and their recent stock offering got a negative reaction. As a result of all of this, the stock has plummeted in recent days, all despite the drug approval, which should be good news. In contrast, CRISPR Therapeutics, which also got a sickle cell gene therapy drug approval, has been flying high since then.