Is it possible to bring back extinct animal species?
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Humanity has been dealing with natural life for thousands of years.
We’ve also gotten extremely good at it—to date, we’ve engineered bacteria to make drugs, created crops with built-in pesticides, and even made a glow-in-the-dark dog.
Despite our many advances in genetic engineering, however, one thing we are still working on is bringing extinct animals back to life.
But scientists are working on it. In fact, there is an entire field of biology that is focused on reviving extinct species.
Using data published in Science News, this graphic provides a brief introduction to the fascinating field of science known as resurrection biology—or de-extinction.
The benefits of de-extinction
First things first — what’s the point of bringing back extinct animals?
There are a number of research benefits that come with de-extinction. For example, some scientists believe that studying previously extinct animals and looking at how they function can help fill in some of the gaps in our current theories of evolution.
De-extinction can also have beneficial effects on the environment. This is because when an animal goes extinct, its absence has a ripple effect on all the flora and fauna involved in that animal’s food web.
Re-introducing previously extinct species back into their old ecosystems can therefore help rebalance and restore erratic environments.
There is even a possibility that halting the extinction could slow global warming. Scientist Sergey Zimov believes that reintroducing an animal similar to the woolly mammoth to the tundra could help repopulate the area, renew the ancient plains and possibly slow the melting of the ice caps.
How it works?
The key element needed to recreate a species is its DNA.
Unfortunately, DNA slowly degrades and once it is completely gone, there is no way to restore it. Researchers estimate that DNA has a half-life of 521 years, so after 6.8 million years it is thought to be completely gone.
That’s why species like dinosaurs have virtually no chance of elimination. However, many organisms that have recently become extinct, such as the drone, could have a chance for conservation.
When it comes to de-fading, there are three main techniques:
① Cloning
It’s the only way to create an exact DNA replica of something.
However, this requires a complete genome, so this form of genetic rescue is most effective in recently lost species or species that are close to extinction.
② Genome editing
Genome editing is the manipulation of DNA to mimic missing DNA.
There are several ways to do this, but generally the process involves researchers manipulating the genomes of living species to create a new species that closely resembles an extinct one.
Since it is not an exact copy of the DNA of the extinct species, this method will create a hybrid species that only resembles the extinct animal.
③ Reverse propagation
A form of breeding in which a distinctive feature of an extinct species (horn or flower pattern) is bred back into living populations.
This requires that the trait still exists in some frequency in similar species and the trait selectively recovers in popularity.
Like genome editing, this method does not resurrect an extinct species, but resurrects the DNA and genetic diversity that gave the extinct species its distinctive trait.
Is it really worth bringing back extinct animal species?
While there is a lot of hype and potential around the idea of bringing back extinct species, there are a few critics who think our efforts would be better spent on other things.
A study on the economics of de-extinction found that money would go further if invested in conservation programs for living species—roughly two to eight times as many species could be saved if invested in existing conversation programs.
In an article in Science, Joseph Bennett, a biologist at Carleton University in Ottawa, said “if [a] the billionaire is only interested in bringing one species back from the dead, power for him or her.
Bennett added: “However, if this billionaire is presenting it as biodiversity conservation, then that is disingenuous. Now there are many species on the brink of extinction that can be saved with the same resources.
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