11) De-extinction

The role of scientists

Scientists present us with 3 pathways towards preserving biodiversity, the OG conservation biology, the millennial genetic rescue and the fresh faced, generation Z... De-extinction.

Impressed with the lynx population, I sought more successful examples and discovered Revive & Restore (R&R). R&R is a collaboration between scientists and conservationists, using biotechnologies to recover wildlife (Figure 1).

Figure 1. A diagram showing the various threats that drive species towards extinction (in red) and the corresponding genetic rescue applications that promote recovery (in green). The aim of genetic rescue is to shift species left, away from extinction. (Revive and Restore, 2020)

Interestingly, R&R included De-extinction. I couldn’t help but feel Jurassic Park vibes - will de-extinction see us living alongside lost worlds from the not-so-distant past? Taken aback by this, I read a scientists explanation on how to clone a mammoth.

Scientific Resurrection

What an oxymoron, trust me, scientists are scrupulous practitioners; here are 3 approaches towards de-extinction.

1. Back-breeding - uses selective breeding to concentrate ancestral traits that persist within a population, into a single individual.

2. Cloning via somatic cell nuclear transfer - creates genetically identical copies of the extinct species from preserved cells. This is not possible for extinct species whose organisms/genetic material have decayed.

3. Genetic engineering - using ancient DNA and genome editing technologies to edit the genome sequence within a living cell, so that it resemble the cell of an extinct species. Then, cloning the edited cell to create a genetic hybrid between the living and extinct species.

Sounds feasible right? A mammoth butt is in the way…

Image Source: Youtube

None of these methods will create identical copies of the extinct species. Simply because an organism’s phenotype is a product of the interaction between genotype and the environment in which it evolved. Therefore, the artificially resurrected species are similar but not the same, think non-identical twins who were separated into different climates since birth.

However, the goal of current de-extinction projects are to create functional equivalents of extinct species. Aka, ecological proxies who can fill the ecological niches of the deceased. Conservation goals always consider the whole ecosystem, therefore, replica species who can maintain functional ecosystems are good enough!

Resourceful resurrection indeed.