“What we’re looking at are the core genes that make a mammoth a mammoth and engineering those into existing genes in the Asian elephant genome,” says Beth Shapiro, lead paleogeneticist at Colossal. Most recently, it announced a new project aimed at bringing back the dodo, a bird endemic to the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, that was famously hunted to extinction by humans in the 17th century.īy using gene editing to influence the offspring of modern-day Asian elephants, Colossal expects to produce not a true woolly mammoth but a hybrid species that possesses key woolly mammoth traits. Founded in 2021, the company first made headlines for its ambition to de-extinct the woolly mammoth within a few years. The company at the forefront of new efforts in this field is Colossal Biosciences, based in Austin, Texas. Is anywhere safe?Īll of these methods have challenges that cause some scientists to question whether true de-extinction is even possible. Safety ‘The ground is shaking’ in southern Gaza. The recent focus has shifted to a third option: extracting DNA from the remains of an extinct species to create a genetic blueprint that can be inserted into the DNA of a living organism. Cloning is another option, growing a new embryo (within a species closely related to the extinct one) using a preserved cell nucleus. “Backbreeding” is a form of selective breeding, aiming to revive specific ancestral characteristics. Over time, scientists have been exploring several approaches to reviving extinct species. If we think about ourselves only, we’re not thinking about ourselves well.” What is de-extinction? If ecosystems and animals “can flourish and can adapt to the changing weather, that’s beneficial for human beings. “What biotechnology ought to do is to teach us to pay attention to interdependency and the interrelationship of all forms of life on the planet,” says Bruce Jennings, a senior fellow at the Center for Humans and Nature. If we think about ourselves only, we’re not thinking about ourselves well.” However it plays out, some bioethicists see a larger lesson about the interconnections between political, economic, and ecological concerns. Most recently, it announced a new project aimed at bringing back the dodo, raising fresh questions about our relationship with the natural world and the consequences of “playing God.” Righting a wrong? Or playing God? Emerging efforts to revive species that have been hunted to extinction are raising questions about the promise – and ethics – of bioengineering.Ĭolossal Biosciences, one company at the forefront of this work, first made headlines for its ambition to de-extinct the woolly mammoth within a few years.
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