Leave it to someone from Russia to casually mention the cloning of a tribe of 3000-year-old nomadic warriors. This may lead you to think that they’re talking about bringing the ancient people back to life but cloning isn’t like that. Aside from the fact that human cloning is currently illegal. It would only mean that Russia wants to artificially grow humans using the DNA of an ancient tribe.
The absurd notion was hinted at by the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu. He hinted at the fact that the country could look into cloning a group of nomadic warriors frozen in the ground in Siberia. Shoigu hinted at the idea during a meeting with the Russian Geographical Society back in mid-April. He said that “it would be possible to make something of it, if not Dolly the Sheep”.
The ‘it’ Shoigu so calmly and casually mentioned is the cloning of a tribe of ancient nomadic warriors called the Scythian warriors. The Scythians were a group of nomadic warriors and people that lived between the 9th and 2nd or 1st centuries BCE. It is believed that the origins of the Scythians were from the area between northern Mongolia and Iran. The tribe ultimately moved northwards to Siberia but were known for roaming large swathes of Eurasia.
Scythian remains were discovered two decades ago by archaeologists while they were investigating the Tuva region of Siberia. The cold and frosty nature of the region helped maintain the remains and most of the biological matter is well preserved. You would need a good batch of biological matter if you’re planning on cloning something.
Shoigu further said that “We have conducted several expeditions there already, it is a big international expedition. A lot of things have been confirmed, but a lot remains to be done”. Human cloning is close to impossible but we’ve already been successful in cloning some endangered species of animals.
Then there is the moral aspect of human cloning as well. A lot of ethical and moral concerns crop up concerning human cloning and it is currently illegal to even attempt it. The National Human Genome Research Institute already debunked the idea by saying that “human cloning still appears to be fiction”.
Saving endangered species is one thing. The Earth already has too many humans.