Science & Technology

Should we really bring back extinct species ?

By T.K. Randall
February 28, 2017

Image: AI-generated (Bing AI / Dall-E 3) In the movie 'Jurassic Park', Jeff Goldblum's character Ian Malcolm famously questions whether bringing dinosaurs back to life after millions of years is actually a good idea.

While many aspects of the film remain firmly rooted in science fiction, the possibility of resurrecting extinct animals remains very real indeed, with some scientists even predicting that the woolly mammoth could be brought back to life within a couple of years.

Now though, a new international study in to the impact of resurrecting long-extinct species has suggested that Malcolm may have actually been right all along.

One issue is that "de-extinction" is likely to be - at least to begin with - very expensive. Spending money on it will remove funds that could have saved a species from going extinct in the first place."Without major increases in budgets, it would be like a one-step forward, two-step back scenario," said study co-author Joseph Bennett from Carleton University.

The option to resurrect an extinct animal might also reduce enthusiasm for conservation efforts in general - why struggle to save a species when they can just be brought back afterwards ?

It is also important to contemplate the ethics of resurrecting an extinct species - would a woolly mammoth be accepted by a herd of modern elephants ? What sort of life would it have ?

Such considerations will likely become increasingly important over the next few decades.

Source: Tech Times

Tags: Extinction