[et_pb_section admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”on” specialty=”off” background_image=”http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/catalyst\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/USA-2007-073.jpeg” transparent_background=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_fullwidth_header admin_label=”Fullwidth Header” title=”Bringing back the dead: Scientists debate the pros and cons of de-extinction.” background_layout=”dark” text_orientation=”left” header_fullscreen=”on” header_scroll_down=”off” background_url=”http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/catalyst\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/17521681_10155726269414068_1986507228_o-1.jpg” parallax=”on” parallax_method=”off” content_orientation=”center” image_orientation=”center” custom_button_one=”off” button_one_letter_spacing=”0″ button_one_use_icon=”default” button_one_icon_placement=”right” button_one_on_hover=”on” button_one_letter_spacing_hover=”0″ custom_button_two=”off” button_two_letter_spacing=”0″ button_two_use_icon=”default” button_two_icon_placement=”right” button_two_on_hover=”on” button_two_letter_spacing_hover=”0″ subhead=”Humans are the single largest cause of animal extinction. As biotechnology advances, do we have a responsibility to restore extinct species?” subhead_font_size=”20px” title_font_size=”37px” title_font=”|on|||”]<\/p>\n
By: Anna Sophia Vollmerhausen<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_fullwidth_header][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section admin_label=”section” transparent_background=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a bright and clear day on the otherwise cold and remote tundra in Canada\u2019s North. Herds of caribou huddle together, grazing on the sparse grass.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, another mammal lumbers by, one with two long tusks and a furry coat that hasn\u2019t roamed the Earth for nearly 10,000 years. Standing 10 feet tall and weighing almost 6,000 kilograms, the creature is a remnant from the last Ice Age\u2014a woolly mammoth.<\/p>\n
If some scientists have their way, this extraordinary scene could\u00a0become realty in the not-so-distant future. Thanks to the science of\u00a0gene-editing, prospects\u00a0for\u00a0de-extinction\u2014the notion of\u00a0bringing back extinct species\u2014have never looked better.<\/p>\n
But just because we have the power to bring back extinct species, should we?<\/p>\n
According to Joseph Bennett, a biology and conservation professor at Carleton University, the answer should be a resounding \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019ve got the resources to make a choice,\u201d Bennett said, \u201cyou\u2019ll work on the living, not the dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_testimonial admin_label=”Testimonial” url_new_window=”off” quote_icon=”on” use_background_color=”on” background_color=”#e09900″ background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” author=”Joseph Bennett” job_title=”Assistant professor, Carleton University” body_font_size=”18″]<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019ve got the resources to make a choice, you\u2019ll work on the living, not the dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/catalyst\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Screen-Shot-2017-03-27-at-11.50.30-PM.png” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”left” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Blurb” url_new_window=”off” use_icon=”off” icon_color=”#e2932b” use_circle=”off” circle_color=”#e2932b” use_circle_border=”off” circle_border_color=”#e2932b” icon_placement=”top” animation=”top” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_icon_font_size=”off” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
Sitting in his office at Carleton University, Joseph Bennett said that de-extinction is a costly process, and that money would be better spent on conservation efforts. [Photo \u00a9 Anna Sophia Vollmerhausen] [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
Bennett is the lead author of a recent study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution<\/em> that seeks to answer the question of whether or not it\u2019s worth spending money on bring back extinct species.<\/p>\n As the study shows, it\u2019s more expensive to bring back an extinct species and to have to care for it than it would be to work on the conservation of existing species.<\/p>\n Others\u00a0disagree.<\/p>\n The California-based Long Now Foundation\u2019s Revive & Restore project aims to \u201cenhance biodiversity through the genetic rescue of endangered and extinct species,\u201d according to its website. For a few years now, the group has been working to bring back extinct species such as the passenger pigeon or the heath hen.<\/p>\n Most notably, the Revive & Restore team has been working to bring back the woolly mammoth, which died out between 3,000 to 10,000 years ago.<\/p>\n Efforts to revive this ancient beast involve the creation of a hybrid embryo, by combining mammoth genes with Asian elephant DNA to create a \u201cmammophant.\u201d<\/p>\n Combining the genetic sequence of an extinct species with that of a closely related species\u2014such as mammoths and elephants\u2014is currently the most viable way of potentially reviving an extinct species, although the process is still in the early stages.<\/p>\n Jordan Mallon is a research scientist in paleobiology at the Canadian Museum of Nature, and said he has a personal interest in de-extinction. According to Mallon, the technical challenges of reviving extinct species are likely to be overcome in the next few generations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe real challenge is the moral one\u2014should we even be doing this?\u201d Mallon said. \u201cI think we have yet to reach a firm conclusion on that one. Sadly, I’m not convinced that the moral question is one that will stop anyone from bringing an extinct species back to life. It’s never stopped people from doing unwise things before.\u201d<\/p>\n Scientists have yet to successfully bring back an extinct animal, since the process isn\u2019t as easy as it may seem. First, they\u00a0need a DNA sample from the species they\u2019re trying to resurrect, as well as a closely related living surrogate that can carry the offspring to full term. Even in cases where all those criteria can be met, there’s no guarantee of\u00a0success.<\/p>\n In 2000, the last Pyrenean ibex\u2014a type of wild mountain goat\u2014died. Nine years later, scientists managed to create a clone of an extinct species for the first time, although it later died after only seven minutes, due to birth defects.<\/p>\n This illustrates one of the common problems with de-extinction\u2014the uncertainty of whether or not the species will survive.<\/p>\n \u201cWe weren\u2019t actually able to estimate in our study because nobody knows what the uncertainty is,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cWe know it\u2019s high, but we can\u2019t set a level on how uncertain it is to bring an extinct species back, and how uncertain is it that we could actually accomplish that.”<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/catalyst\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-03-at-11.23.22-AM.png” show_in_lightbox=”on” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”left” sticky=”on” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Blurb” url_new_window=”off” use_icon=”off” icon_color=”#e2932b” use_circle=”off” circle_color=”#e2932b” use_circle_border=”off” circle_border_color=”#e2932b” icon_placement=”top” animation=”top” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_icon_font_size=”off” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n Some species are better candidates for de-extinction than others, depending on how long they’ve been extinct for, and whether or not a closely-related surrogate exists. [Infographic\u00a0\u00a9 Taylor Barrett]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n If\u00a0the technical hurdles can be surmounted, arguments both for and against de-extinction\u00a0take on\u00a0an ethical dimension. Since a driving factor in the extinction of many species has been human activity, the notion of \u201crighting a past wrong\u201d features highly on the pro-de-extinction side. But\u00a0the\u00a0counterargument focuses more on the well being\u00a0and potential\u00a0behaviour of\u00a0these hybrid animals.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you could imagine a mammoth being raised by an Asian elephant surrogate mom, or some kind of a human trying to intervene somehow, how do we know that that thing would actually be happy in its environment, or actually function as a social creature?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In an interview with The Guardian <\/em>earlier this year, George Church\u2014the scientist leading the woolly mammoth team\u2014said they are just two years away from creating a hybrid embryo. This embryo would then have to be carried by a surrogate mother, in this case, an Asian elephant.<\/p>\n But, Bennett said he sees a number of concerns surrounding the woolly mammoth project.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019d imagine the difference between a mammoth and its surrogate mom . . . the difference between a mammoth and an elephant is like the difference between us and a gorilla\u2014imagine us being raised by a gorilla,\u201d he said. \u201cWho is to say that that Asian elephant mom from the jungles of Asia would be able to teach an Arctic creature to actually function in its environment? It\u2019s just not feasible.\u201d<\/p>\n Environmental changes are also an issue when thinking about reintroducing these hybrids into the wild, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Arctic that [the mammoth] went extinct in at the end of the last Ice Age is completely different from the Arctic now,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cFor a lot of those creatures, their environments are forever gone, the environment went extinct with them.\u201d<\/p>\n For his part, Bennett questions whether or not it\u2019s ethical to spend millions of dollars to bring back a mammoth, when that money could be used to save dozens of other species from extinction.<\/p>\n \u201c[If] you bring one species back from extinction, you increase the biodiversity by one,\u201d he said. \u201cBut of course, by\u00a0choosing to\u00a0work on that one and not one of the 200 to 2,000 other species per\u00a0year that are going extinct, you\u2019ve essentially chosen to let other ones go extinct.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/catalyst\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Screen-Shot-2017-03-27-at-10.29.14-AM.png” show_in_lightbox=”on” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”left” sticky=”on” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Blurb” url_new_window=”off” use_icon=”off” icon_color=”#e2932b” use_circle=”off” circle_color=”#e2932b” use_circle_border=”off” circle_border_color=”#e2932b” icon_placement=”top” animation=”top” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_icon_font_size=”off” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n Revive & Restore has identified four basic scientific criteria they use to judge whether or not a species can be resurrected. [Infographic\u00a0\u00a9 Taylor Barrett] [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n Is conservation the better bet?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Mallon said he agrees that money is better spent on conversation, rather than de-extinction, and compared it to the colonization of other planets, such as Mars.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’d be far easier and more cost-effective to try and fix Earth’s problems than to try to move part of the population to another planet,\u201d Mallon said.<\/p>\n However, Church said in an Ottawa Citizen<\/em> article that releasing the creatures back into the Arctic would be beneficial to the environment, by \u201cpunching through\u201d the layer of snow over the permafrost. This, he said, would allow cold air to come in and prevent it from melting.<\/p>\n But, Bennett disagrees.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you were going to be putting a lot of resources into something to\u00a0prevent\u00a0climate change, is the woolly mammoth the solution to climate change on our planet?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n “No. It\u2019s ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/catalyst\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Screen-Shot-2017-03-27-at-10.28.59-AM.png” show_in_lightbox=”on” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”left” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Blurb” url_new_window=”off” use_icon=”off” icon_color=”#e2932b” use_circle=”off” circle_color=”#e2932b” use_circle_border=”off” circle_border_color=”#e2932b” icon_placement=”top” animation=”top” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_icon_font_size=”off” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n An estimated 200 to 2,000 species go extinct every year, according to the World Wildlife Fund. [Infographic\u00a0\u00a9 Taylor Barrett]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [et_pb_section admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”on” specialty=”off” background_image=”http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/catalyst\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/USA-2007-073.jpeg” transparent_background=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_fullwidth_header admin_label=”Fullwidth Header” title=”Bringing back the dead: Scientists debate the pros and cons of de-extinction.” background_layout=”dark” text_orientation=”left” header_fullscreen=”on” header_scroll_down=”off” background_url=”http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/catalyst\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/17521681_10155726269414068_1986507228_o-1.jpg” parallax=”on” parallax_method=”off” content_orientation=”center” image_orientation=”center” custom_button_one=”off” button_one_letter_spacing=”0″ button_one_use_icon=”default” button_one_icon_placement=”right” button_one_on_hover=”on” button_one_letter_spacing_hover=”0″ custom_button_two=”off” button_two_letter_spacing=”0″ button_two_use_icon=”default” button_two_icon_placement=”right” button_two_on_hover=”on” button_two_letter_spacing_hover=”0″ subhead=”Humans are the single largest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"project_category":[135],"project_tag":[11,16,17,15,13],"class_list":["post-383","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","project_category-feature","project_tag-de-extinction","project_tag-genetic-engineering","project_tag-revive-restore","project_tag-species","project_tag-woolly-mammoth"],"yoast_head":"\nThe challenges of de-extinction<\/h3>\n
The debate around de-extinction<\/h3>\n