de extinction
TRANSCRIPT
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