What the heck is de-extinction?
(Photo from BECKER/FOX PHOTOS/GETTY IMAGES)
De-extinction is about reversing extinction to re-establish processes to restore biodiversity; creating healthy animals to eventually be released into the wild and contribute positively.
De-extinction is rapidly progressing. In 2003, a Pyrenean Ibex- a mountain goat that went extinct in 2000- was resurrected by European scientists; though dying a few minutes after its birth due to a lung defect. Scientists have been developing and refining their techniques since.
2 ongoing projects use ‘back- breeding’ for resurrection, picking out ancestral characteristics and DNA in a species closely related to a still- living species; the offspring carrying the wanted selected genetic traits; remaining two separate species as their genes wouldn’t be fully correct. That’s why these projects aim to create modern versions of extinct species’.
Cloning technology does not work on species that have been extinct for too long; a complete cell is needed, but they break down quickly after death. And the older the DNA fragments are, the smaller they are. Until eventually there isn’t enough left. It could, however, be an option for recently extinct or endangered species, like: A Pyrenean Ibex as mentioned above; and a black footed ferret from 30 year old frozen cells.
Colossal Biosciences are resurrecting the mammoth, using Crispr- Cas9, the Nobel winning genome editing method, for genome reconstruction. First, they need to sequence the mammoth’s DNA- like a genetic blueprint; possible because of the scraps of mammoth DNA found frozen in the Arctic. Now, they splice bits of mammoth DNA into the genome of its closest living relative- the Asian elephant. The “Mammophant '' would be adapted into the cold Siberian tundra, filling in an ecological void left by the extinct species of the mammoth. Although, the insertion of a new strand of DNA currently cannot be completely controlled; the process is difficult, equivalent to completing a jigsaw puzzle without reference; essentially editing all the living cells of the elephant, engineering the elephant cell into a mammoth cell with the mammoth’s chromosomes.
Of course, there are ethical considerations to this matter. Because of climate change or humans, the extinct creatures’ habitats may have been destroyed or changed drastically. Some food sources have gone as well. Would they be able to survive?
Andrew Pask, a geneticist at the University of Melbourne, thinks that, "I don't think we should bring all animals back. I think it should have to fit certain criteria.”
Some researchers think bringing animals back could increase risk of biodiversity loss, detracting current efforts to conserve animals. Though, it provides an opportunity for humans to correct past harms of species’ and to expand diversity of species’; becoming a powerful conservation tool to rescue ecosystems from collapsing and to preserve balance.
APA Bibliography
https://rewildingeurope.com/rewilding-in-action/wildlife-comeback/tauros/
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230113-how-extinct-animals-could-be-brought-back-from-the-dead
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/de-extinction-bringing-animal-species-back-from-the-brink/
https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/de-extinction-can-we-bring-extinct-animals-back-from-the-dead/
