Extinct no more

By: Josh Leach

     Extinction may no longer be a permanent condition.  Technological advances in the field of genetic cloning could make resurrecting extinct species possible.  All scientists need is enough DNA sample material to reconstruct the species’ genome and a viable surrogate to carry the offspring to term.

     Not only is resurrecting an extinct species possible, but it has actually been done before.  According to the Mother Nature Network, a conservationist website, “The Pyrenean ibex recently became the first extinct animal to ever become un-extinct — at least, for seven minutes. The cloned fetus, which contained reanimated DNA from the last known living Pyrenean ibex, was successfully brought to term after being implanted in the womb of a living domestic goat. Although the ibex died of lung difficulty seven minutes after birth, the breakthrough ensures the inevitability of resurrecting extinct species.”  The extremely brief resurrection of the Pyrenean ibex proves that cloning can create a living specimen of an extinct species. Abby Aldridge, a senior, says, “I think bringing back the animals we’ve caused to go extinct is the best way we can make up for the destruction we’ve caused.”   However, resurrecting an entire species by this method is still likely far beyond the resources of the scientific community.

     Scientists are quite hopeful that they can triumph over extinction.  The Mother Nature Network says, “Early in 2011, Japanese scientists announced that they planned to clone a woolly mammoth within five years. The clock is ticking, but with a little luck these ice age behemoths may soon become the first inhabitants of the world's first zoo for extinct animals.”  Josh Kurosz, a senior at Seckman High School, responded by saying, “That is awesome!”  Steward Brand, a journalist for National Geographic, writes, “Many extinct species—from the passenger pigeon to the woolly mammoth—might now be reclassified as bodily, but not genetically, extinct.  They're dead, but their DNA is recoverable from museum specimens and fossils, even those up to 200,000 years old.”          National Geographic believes the prime candidates for resurrection include the Tasmanian tiger, saber tooth cats, moa, dodo, ground sloth, Carolina parakeet, woolly rhinoceros, passenger pigeon, Irish elke, Baiji River dolphin, huia, and controversially the Neanderthal.  

Reviving long lost species offers scientists a way to study living specimens and better understand the natural world.  This technology could also be used to combat modern extinction, which has been due to climate change and habitat destruction.  Conservationists are hopeful that the human race will be able to reverse its destructive influence on the environment.