For years, scientists have come to the endless debate about the de-extinction the extinct animals have been a controversial subject between the scientists for years. Recently, a new report has shown that the de-extinction will lead to more losses than gain for the biodiversity.
A recent report from the team of scientists has found that de-extinction of extinct animals for the species in New Zealand and New South Wales, Australia is harmful to biodiversity. The lead author of research is the professor of Biology at the Carleton University, Canada, Joseph R. Bennett, who used the extant analog to predict the result of the de-extinction of extinct animals with his six colleagues from Australia and New Zealand. The research has been published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.
From the study, they found that the de-extinction of extinct animals will cause a net loss of biodiversity when the extinct species are introduced into their old habitat, there will be fewer extant species that could be conserved. Although the model was built with the optimistic assumptions, they found the result to be the same. For example, the introduction of extinct species will be at the expense of the currently endangered species of Asian and African elephants as reported by New York Times.
“In 50 years, we might not have those elephants,” Bennett said. “It would be one step forward and three to eight steps back.”
The question of de-extinction of extinct animals is an intriguing one. Moreover, the current genetic engineering technology has allowed a human being to resurrect the extinct species using the preserved DNA of the species.
Nevertheless, the de-extinction of extinct animals will be useless according to Professor Bennett, as the resurrection of the extinct animals will only be successful at the expense of the endangered species. Watch the footage from National Geographic regarding the question whether the extinct species should be brought back to life below:
