De-extinction,

should we?

Undergraduate SeminarJay Edneil Olivar

“Gone” by Isabella Kirkland

Passenger PigeonSTATUS: Extinct

Golden ToadSTATUS: Extinct

Cuban BegoniaSTATUS: Extinct

Tree SnailSTATUS: Extinct

ThylacineThylacinus cynocephalusSTATUS: Extinct

http://www.naturalworlds.org/thylacine/history/history.htm

Common thread?Humans FORCED them

to EXTINCTION

WWF global ESTIMATES that at LEAST 10,000 species go

EXTINCT every year

Probable Reason for Extinction

• Paul Martin, an American anthropologist, pointed out that MEGAFAUNAL EXTINCTIONS were due to the introduction of HUNTING and DOMESTICATION TECHNIQUES by our early ancestors

• OVERKILL Hypothesis

De-extinction

process by which humans GENETICALLY ENGINEER embryos of extant species to hopefully bring back extinct relatives

Revival Criteria

http://longnow.org/revive/candidates/

De-extinction: History

Karyoplast from skin biopsy

SB

Revival

Bucardo

Spanish IbexDe-extinction: Bucardo

First ever revived species by Folch et al. 2003

SB

Gastric-Brooding Frog

Great Barred Frog

De-extinction: Gastric-brooding Frog

Embryos grown in medium

Results

Bucardo Gastric-Brooding Frog

Only one female SpanishIbex got pregnantLife span of revived bucardo was 7 minutes; Died because of lung defects

Embryo’s average life span is 10 days

Genetically IDENTICAL to the extinct species

MAGE System

Multiplex Automated

Genome Engineering System

A

B

C

A. Genomes to Cells

Assembly of the passenger

pigeon genome

Comparison of the assembled

genome with the extant relative’s

genome

MAGE System

B. Cells to a Bird

Creation of passenger pigeon

stem cells

Insertion of germ cells to rock pigeon eggs

C. A bird to a flock

Breeding of Chimeras

Where are we now?

• Part A (Genomes to Cell)

Are we playing God?

“Did we play God when we drove these species to extinction?”

“It was ENTIRELY human efforts that made them

extinct.”

Are we playing God?

“Humans have made a HUGE hole in nature…We could consider bringing them back to a world that MISSES them.”

“What I think is important is that, if it's clear that we exterminated these

species, then I think we not only have a MORAL OBLIGATION to see what we

can do about it, but I think we've got a MORAL IMPERATIVE to try to do

something, if we can.”

What are we going to do with the revived species?

Are the revived species really authentic?

De-extinction,

should we?

http://longnow.org/revive