{"id":33081,"date":"2023-03-01T04:15:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-01T04:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=33081"},"modified":"2023-03-02T19:46:17","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T19:46:17","slug":"should-we-bring-back-the-dodo-de-extinction-is-a-feel-good-story-but-these-high-tech-replacements-arent-really-resurrecting-species","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/should-we-bring-back-the-dodo-de-extinction-is-a-feel-good-story-but-these-high-tech-replacements-arent-really-resurrecting-species\/","title":{"rendered":"Should we bring back the dodo? De-extinction is a feel-good story, but these high-tech replacements aren\u2019t really \u2018resurrecting\u2019 species"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Risa Aria Schnebly<\/a>, Arizona State University<\/a><\/em> and Ben A. Minteer<\/a>, Arizona State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s no secret that human activities have put many of this planet\u2019s inhabitants in danger<\/a>. Extinctions are happening at a dramatically faster rate<\/a> than they have over the past tens of millions of years. An estimated quarter of all species on Earth are at risk of being lost, many within decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What can scientists possibly do to stop that trend? For some, the answer is to \u201cde-extinct.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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https:\/\/embed-player.newsoveraudio.com\/v4?key=x84olp&id=https:\/\/theconversation.com\/should-we-bring-back-the-dodo-de-extinction-is-a-feel-good[%E2%80%A6]-tech-replacements-arent-really-resurrecting-species-199586&bgColor=F5F5F5&color=D8352A&playColor=D8352A<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Colossal, a biotechnology company<\/a> that garnered headlines for its plan to \u201cde-extinct\u201d the woolly mammoth, is now attempting to \u201cbring back\u201d the famously dead dodo bird<\/a>. The company says its goal is to create a population of undead dodos to put on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, where the hefty, flightless creatures lived before humans drove them to extinction<\/a> in the late 1600s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As environmental humanists, we study the morality of different conservation interventions, and are interested in how de-extinction might change the ways people think about their responsibilities toward nature. One of us<\/a>, Ben, is a professor of environmental ethics<\/a> who explores the ethics of de-extinction in his 2018 book \u201cThe Fall of the Wild<\/a>.\u201d The other, Risa, is a doctoral student<\/a> researching how de-extinction might change public perceptions about extinction, especially its emotional impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What de-extinction is and isn\u2019t<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

De-extinction is not exactly what it sounds like. Rather than \u201cbringing back\u201d lost species, it\u2019s more of a process to create their high-tech look-alikes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists would edit the genomes of the dodo\u2019s closest living relative \u2013 the Nicobar pigeon<\/a>, which contains the pigeon\u2019s full set of DNA \u2013 and add some of the most important dodo genes, taken from preserved dodo remains. Then they could put that genome into an egg cell, and let that egg develop into an organism that should look like a dodo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that organism wouldn\u2019t be genetically identical to the dodo. Nor would it have any other dodos to teach it how to act like and, well, actually be a dodo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A Nicobar pigeon, the dodo\u2019s closest \u2013 and much more colorful \u2013 relative. Tambako the Jaguar\/Moment via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Colossal hasn\u2019t successfully created any de-extinct creatures yet. Nor have any other scientists, unless you count the team that cloned the Pyrenean ibex<\/a> in 2003 \u2013 but that clone died within minutes. And yet Colossal seems confident, saying it hopes to de-extinct Tasmanian tigers by 2025<\/a> and woolly mammoths by 2027<\/a>. They\u2019re certainly amassing a fortune to make it happen: Since its founding in 2021, Colossal has raised over US$225 million<\/a> from tech investors, Paris Hilton<\/a> and even a CIA-backed<\/a> venture capital firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Possibilities, or pitfalls?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Supporters have argued that de-extinction will eventually help restore ecosystems. \u201cBringing back\u201d passenger pigeons could help restore forests<\/a> in the northeastern United States, for example, while woolly mammoth proxies could help restore the Siberian steppe<\/a> and keep permafrost frozen<\/a>. Some de-extinction advocates have also positioned<\/a> their projects as potential long-term solutions to combating mass biodiversity loss in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But many ecologists and ethicists<\/a> have highlighted the uncertainty around introducing these novel creatures into the wild. Even if the de-extinct dodos did act more or less like their extinct counterparts, it\u2019s hard to know how a habitat that hasn\u2019t had any dodolike birds in it for 350 years would be affected by this new species. Opponents have pushed back even more strongly against claims that de-extinction could be a widespread solution, pointing out<\/a> how bringing back one species at a time would not be enough to curb the Earth\u2019s losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other issues<\/a> include how to decide where all these de-extinct creatures would live, as well as animal welfare concerns<\/a>: for potential surrogate animals that would be impregnated, and the de-extinct creatures themselves, which never asked to be \u201cbrought back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than science<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To us, one of the more interesting questions about de-extinction has to do with how it changes the way people think about extinction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some de-extinction boosters have argued<\/a> that de-extinction could create a more hopeful story about humans\u2019 ability to combat mass extinction. Many others share the desire for more inspiring conservation stories, too. Some conservationists<\/a> and psychologists<\/a> have argued that environmentalists need more positivity to get people engaged with environmental issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What\u2019s the best way to motivate care for the Earth: Hope or fear? Maskot via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Others, however, say de-extinction isn\u2019t hopeful, but misleading<\/a>. Many worry<\/a> that de-extinction actually risks making humans less inclined to care about ongoing extinctions. After all, why care about preventing extinction if we can eventually reverse it<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s hard to rally the troops with a message of unrelenting guilt and despair. But reckoning with those difficult emotions can be useful for reflecting on humanity\u2019s responsibilities \u2013 especially considering that extinction is our fault to begin with, and since de-extinction isn\u2019t really \u201cresurrecting\u201d anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, some scholars<\/a> argue that what humans really need is to learn to grieve extinct species. Grief, they say<\/a>, is a transformational process that helps people recognize the value of what\u2019s been lost and appreciate what\u2019s left. Grief will never be enough without action. But we believe learning how to grieve together can be a more responsible and honest way to cope with extinction than pretending it can simply be undone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So which is better at motivating care for the environment: positive or negative stories? There are still no sure answers, and testing their impact on audiences today is a key part of Risa\u2019s research. Perhaps it can help conservationists at large learn how to tell more motivational stories \u2013 but it will take some time to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, we suggest that de-extinction scientists and advocates call de-extinction what it really is: not resurrecting extinct species, but creating their replacements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Risa Aria Schnebly<\/a>, Ph.D. Student in Biology and Society, Arizona State University<\/a><\/em> and Ben A. Minteer<\/a>, Professor of Environmental Ethics and Conservation, Arizona State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Risa Aria Schnebly, Arizona State University and Ben A. Minteer, Arizona State University It\u2019s no secret that human activities have put many of this planet\u2019s inhabitants in danger. Extinctions are happening at a dramatically faster rate than they have over the past tens of millions of years. An estimated quarter of all species on Earth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":33082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[118],"tags":[12590,644,752,1969,13622,196,13624,13623,13625,2406],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33081"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33081"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33091,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33081\/revisions\/33091"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}