Dinosaur dilemma.(MAIL BAG)(Letter to the editor).

WILL THE WORLD be a better place with less poverty, hunger and human suffering if dinosaurs are brought back to life? ("The quest to build a dinosaur," Science, Aug. 24.) If not, then it is a waste of valuable research resources. When existing species of animal life are struggling to survive in the environmental mess we humans have created--see your article "Canada's sickest lake" (Environment, Aug. 24) in the same issue-why introduce more?

Harvey Tremeer, Belleville, Ont.

WOW! What a turnaround for McGill University-why, just a few weeks ago they were griping to your magazine about how a fine institution like theirs couldn't make it out of the academic backwoods burdened with all those pesky undergraduates, government cutbacks and all. But less than a month later they are boasting about being on the verge of a major scientific breakthrough: McGill University is about to hatch a dinosaur egg! Maybe Canada isn't such an academic backwoods after all. I bet that McGill's many undergrads are very excited and proud of the fine work that their school is undertaking.

Corrigan Hammond, Brantford, Ont.

RATHER THAN clone some creature that would end up in a theme park, we should bank DNA of near-extinct species. If we cannot save the last tigers or pandas, conceivably we could plan ahead and replace what we may soon push to extinction. At least we would be fixing the damage we have done rather than rebuilding what nature has seen fit to extinguish.

Peter Waugh, Vancouver

REGARDING your cover's headline "Bringing dinosaurs back to life"-does this mean you're going to wake up the Senate?

Yvonne Norn, Port Alberni, B.C.

Source Citation:Tremeer, Harvey, Corrigan Hammond, Peter Waugh, and Yvonne Norn. "Dinosaur dilemma.(MAIL BAG)(Letter to the editor)." Maclean's 122.34 (Sept 7, 2009): 4(1). Academic OneFile. Gale. BROWARD COUNTY LIBRARY. 17 Oct. 2009
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