De-extinction: Reversing our human wrongs

Hi Readers,

This article (link below) caught my attention this week. The article reintroduced the long debated question; should we use cloning to bring extinct animal species back to life?

A picture of Dolly the first cloned mammal. Image taken from www.guardian.co.uk

Ever since the triumphant birth of Dolly the sheep in 1996 (and likely much before that as well) the scientific community has been struggling with the idea to use cloning techniques to bring back extinct animals. This concept has been dubbed de-extinction. It seems to be one of the logical progressions or evolution of cloning techniques to use our rapidly expanding knowledge and technology to help revive the long list of animals we have caused to die out.

A quick search on the IUCN Red List for Threatened Species (http://www.iucnredlist.org/) reveals that at least 795 species are now considered extinct throughout the time man has been on the Earth. Of that, 705 animal species occupy the list (90 species of plant are extinct) of which 77 species are mammals and 130 species are birds. Of these are species like the Tasmanian tiger, moa, dodo and Steller's sea cow. While extinction is a natural process for evolution, the impact of humans on animal species is catastrophic at best. Humans have accelerated the rate at which animals are dying out for various reason such as habitat degradation and introducing foreign species. As the blood on our hands increases we find ourselves at a point that our technology can potentially use cloning techniques to help undo our wrongs. But should we?

To clone an animal requires DNA of that species. DNA rapidly degrades after death so only exceptionally well preserved specimens or those collected and stored by humans can be used (sorry no dinosaurs are going to be made any time soon). That, however, is not the main issue of de-extinction. The main issues lie rather in the ethical conundrum. Is it wrong of us to play "God"? Is a resurrected animal the same species it was or just a very good replica? What damage will be done reintroducing an animal into the ecosystem? What animals do we bring back? Why not use the resources required to resurrect an extinct species for saving an endangered species?

The Yangtze River dolphin. declared extinct in 2006 after not trace of the animal was seen following a 45 day survey. The priniciple cause of its demise were overfishing, damming and sub aquatic sonar pollution. Image taken from www.fxdirectory.info.

The answers to these questions are not easy to find and may never truly be found. We live in an age where we as a species have a true power and gift of knowledge. How we use this knowledge and power is of paramount importance not only to us but to the Earth we cohabit with all the rest of the life on this planet. De-extinction is a wonderfully exciting and promising revelation. We must make sure that if we proceed to try and bring back species that have been declared extinct that we are doing it for the right reasons and not just because we have a guilty conscience.

Until next time,
Jay

Reference article
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/03/130305-science-animals-extinct-species-revival-deextinction-debate-tedx/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_fb20130306news-extspec&utm_campaign=Content