TED DİYARBAKIR COLLEGE / 11-C
To Bring or Not To Bring
Extinct Species Back To Life?
Roza YALÇIN
Since the advent of human beings, a lot of
species got in danger. Between 30 and 159
species disappear every day. More than 300
types of animals have already vanished. The
evolution of human beings made the world less
green and full of dangerous materials. They
started harming habitats with contamination
which decreased and endangered the variety
of species.
Today, we have lost lots of animals such as
dinosaurs, passenger pigeon, woolly mammoth,
etc. Hovered on the scientific fringes and new
advances in genetic engineering, especially the
CRISPR-Cas9 Revolution, researchers believe
that it’s time to bring some animals back. But
the question is: Should we do it or not?
If we have a closer look at the scientists’ plan on
bringing them back, we can see that they need
those animals’ genetic material. Also, according
to scientists, the animals that will be brought
back will be more like hybrids. For example, if
we look at the passenger pigeon, scientists
need to use a similar animal’s genetic material
to have the closest copy of it.
There’s another question, too. Is it ethical to
bring them back? If the resurrected animals are
reintroduced to their changed habitats, they
might suffer. Also, they might harm the habitats
and the species living there.
What if the hybrids start acting like the original
ones in time? There are some possibilities to
manipulate their behaviour to fit in the modern
habitats, but there is also a chance to behave
like their wild ancestors.
“De-extinction” of animals can help the
damaged habitats, but I believe that it’s always
better to be sure of and be thankful for what
we have.