FLICKR, OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY Scientists hope to bring back extinct species, such as the wooly mammoth, by genetically engineering embryos from their closest living relatives. De-extinction efforts, however, could divert much-needed resources away from animals that are endangered, according to a study published yesterday (Feburary 27) in Nature Ecology and Evolution.
"On one hand, we can bring back the dead and right past wrongs," study co-author Joseph Bennett, a conservation biologist at Carleton University in Canada told Popular Science. "On the other hand, there are many species going extinct every year, and our resources to help save them are severely limited."
Bennet and his team estimated the cost of bringing back extinct species in New Zealand and Australia, and compared that to existing calculations of how much it costs to conserve endangered species in those areas. In New Zealand, they found that bringing back 11 extinct species would cost as much as conserving 31 endangered species. In Australia, the funds required to save five species could instead be redirected to save 42 living species. One of ...
