Bringing Animals Back From Extinction. Science or Fiction? 

by Zhihan Shi

The famous movie franchise Jurassic Park is all about bringing dinosaurs and other famous extinct animals back from the dead. The first movie was made in 1993, and bringing extinct animals back in just three decades is a bigger possibility than ever. While scientists are not bringing extinct animals back just yet, biotechnology has made significant progress in de-extinction. De-extinction is a field of science involved in resurrecting species that have gone extinct (Carrington). 

The Science Behind De-extinction

How exactly does de-extinction work? A paraphrased definition of de-extinction by The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is that it is the ecological replacement of an extinct species by adapting a living organism to serve the ecological function of that species through various means. Essentially, bringing back an extinct organism requires an existing living organism, preferably one closely related (Neuman).

Cloning, also known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), is one of the main techniques utilized in de-extinction. This procedure involves inserting the nucleus of a somatic cell from the extinct species into an egg cell whose nucleus has been removed. After that, the egg is encouraged to grow into an embryo that can be placed inside the body of a closely related species' surrogate mother (Neuman). The famed Pyrenean ibex, an extinct subspecies of the Spanish ibex, was used to test this technique; however, the cloned animal died shortly after due to a lung defect (Brian). 

Another technique is genetic engineering, in which researchers modify the DNA of a closely related extinct species by inserting genes from the extinct species, producing an organism that is strikingly similar to the original. Tools such as CRISPR-Cas9 are used in this process. As Dr, Carina Schlebusch puts it, “The genome editing approach is the most viable and, with the availability of DNA-editing techniques such as CRISPR–Cas9, it may be feasible in the near future.” By altering the genome of the Asian elephant, the woolly mammoth's closest living relative, it may be possible to revive the mammoth (Schlebusch). 

A proposed outline of bringing back the mammoth using biotechnology. 

Source: https://www.worldwildlife.org/

Current Examples of De-extinction

Many companies and researchers are trying to be the first to perform de-extinction. A notable example of de-extinction is the endeavor to bring back the woolly mammoth. To produce a hybrid with the mammoth's cold-resistant features, such as thick fur and subcutaneous fat, scientists are attempting to insert mammoth genes into the Asian elephant's genome. By promoting grassland ecosystems in the Arctic tundra, this initiative, headed by Harvard scientist George Church, aims to create a mammoth-elephant hybrid that may be released into the wild to aid in the fight against climate change. A similar project was done by the company VOW, where they created a mammoth meatball using extinct animal DNA (Carrington). 

Another example is the attempt to bring back the passenger pigeon, a species that was once abundant in North America but went extinct in the early 20th century due to overhunting and habitat destruction. Scientists are using genetic material from preserved specimens to attempt to recreate the species by editing the genome of the band-tailed pigeon, a close relative of the passenger pigeon (Novak). 

Figure 1: A depiction of the woolly mammoth

Source: www.NPR.org

Conclusion

De-extinction is a promising new field that may see success in the upcoming years due to biotechnological breakthroughs. Different scientific methods have been proposed for de-extinction and it is only a matter of time before one succeeds. As new projects arise for bringing back extinct animals, the ethics of these experiments may need to be called into question. In my next blog post, I will cover more on the future of de-extinction, including new technology like AI and ethical dilemmas. Stay tuned! 

Citation:

Brian, Thomas. “Extinct Ibex Clone Dies at Birth.” ICR, https://www.icr.org/article/extinct-ibex-clone-dies-at-birth/. Accessed 4 Sept. 2024

Carrington, D., & editor, D. C. E. (2023, March 28). Meatball from long-extinct mammoth created by food firm. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/28/meatball-mammoth-created-cultivated-meat-firm. Accessed 4 Sept. 2024

Martinelli, L., Oksanen, M., & Siipi, H. (2014). De-extinction: a novel and remarkable case of bio-objectification. Croatian Medical Journal, 55(4), 423–427. https://doi.org/10.3325/cmj.2014.55.423. Accessed 4 Sept. 2024

Neuman, S. (2021, September 15). Scientists say they could bring back woolly mammoths. But maybe they shouldn’t. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/09/14/1036884561/dna-resurrection-jurassic-park-woolly-mammoth. Accessed 4 Sept. 2024

Novak, B. J. (2018). De-extinction. Genes, 9(11), 548. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes9110548. Accessed 4 Sept. 2024

Schlebusch, C. M. (2022). Genomics: Testing the limits of de-extinction. Current Biology, 32(7), R324–R327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.03.023. Accessed 4 Sept. 2024

About the Author

My name is Zhihan Shi and I’m a senior at Innovation Academy. I’m interested in biotechnology and I’ve been learning about it through classes at my school. Inside of biotechnology, I’m interested in microbiology and molecular biology. 

Zhihan Shi | He/Him

https://www.linkedin.com/in/zhihan-shi-01aa85271/

zhihankshi@gmail.com