Eylar, Alex. "Jurassic Park" 11/07/2009 via flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic
What is De-Extinction?
De-Extinction is essentially cloning a specimen that has gone extinct and reproducing it now. It can also be referred to as resurrection biology or species revivalism. There are two ways to try to "de-extinct" a specimen: cloning and selective breeding.
Has De-Extinction Already Happened?
If you were to think about de-extinction with respects to cloning and selective breeding, then yes de-extinction has been happening for quite some time now.
De-extinction in relation to bringing a species back to life has also happened. In 1999, scientists obtained cells from the last living Bucardo, a type of , and placed a tracker on her. A Bucardo is a
type of Spanish Ibex that was highly adapted to the extreme mountain colds and harsh environment. In 2000, Celia, the name of the last Bucardo, was killed by a falling tree.
Since the team had caught Celia and preserved her cells in liquid nitrogen at -321, they were going to try to revive her now extinct species. Over the next 3 years, the team gathered other goat eggs and stripped them of their DNA. In 2003, they then injected Celia, or rather her cell’s DNA, into the blank eggs. 57 of these mini-Celias were implanted into surrogate goats. Of the 57, only 7 goats became pregnant with the baby Bucardo. Of that 7 only one Bucardo was able to be carried to its birth.
That baby Bucardo lived for about 10 minutes until she died. The baby goat was born with a defect in one of her lungs causing her to not be able to breath and eventually die. This was the first “successful” de-extinction of a species.
One thing to consider when talking about de-extinction is that the new organisms are basically clones of the thing donating its cells. This means the new organisms will all be the same gender and have the same genetic make-up. This limits genetic diversity and, if the species reproduces sexually, the production of new baby clones. This attempt at de-extinction raised many questions about cloning and what it entails.
Who Successfully Completed the First De-Extinction?
Alberto Fernandez-Arias along with a team of scientist from Spain and France successfully brought a species back from the grave.
Alberto Fernandez-Arias is a Spanish wildlife veterinarian. He was one of the leaders of a team of scientists that successfully cloned an extinct animal: the Bucardo. The kid only lived for a short while (minutes) before her lungs gave out and she died. Dr. Fernandez-Arias is from Spain but is bilingual and can speak English as you can see in his TED talk about their de-extinction.
His English, although very intelligent, is very rough. He is a little difficult to understand but with context clues and paying attention he is understandable. Dr. Fernandez-Arias is a middle aged man with hazel colored eyes. He also has a receding hairline that looks almost like a reverse Mohawk. Aside from his lab coat and expedition clothing, he dresses well in slacks and tuxedo jackets. He does not speak with his hands like most people do.
He seems to be a typical scientists that is a little reserved. His speech is very factual, abrupt, and to the point. In front of a crowd, although he is obviously passionate about his work, he seems to not want to be there. Rather he would like to present his work and be done than elaborate on every detail. This could be because his first language is not English and he was uncomfortable speaking it in front of a crowd.
When and Where Did the First De-Extinction take place?
The de-extinction of the Bucardo, took place where the Bucardo last lived. The species lived in what is called the Iberian Peninsula in Europe. The peninsula, known as Iberia, is split among three countries: Spain, Portugal, and Andorra. The Bucardo was specially adapted to survive the freezing cold as well as the rough mountainous environment. A lot of people would compare this to a mountain goat that can scale sheer cliffs. These goats are totally fine with a centimeter of crumbling rock to walk on.
The Bucardo lives in a place similar to this but not as dramatic. The mountain ranges may have cliffs and sporadic trees. Their habitat also had some farmland intertwined in it. These farmlands are more flat and rocky than cliff-ridden. The Bucardo is a species of wild goat. They do not however resemble goats that we see in petting zoos and on farms. Instead they have longer horns that turn in on themselves like rams.
The cells the team was able to extract from the last living Bucardo were frozen in separate labs. One lab was in Zaragoza and one in Madrid. On June 30, 2003, the first de-extinct Bucardo kid was born via cesarean section.
A lot happened in 2003. Globally, 2003 was the year the US, along with other countries, invaded Iraq. Also 2003 was the year MySpace launched, connecting people from around the globe. During this time, Spain was going through a change in power. The country was in the middle of choosing a leader that could best follow their predecessor.
Also, in Spain, the countries prosecutor issued an order that will allow the deportation of immigrants that come to the country as minors. In local news, on March 11, 2003 the city of Madrid was bombed killing 192 people. In lighter news, 2003 was also the year that famous footballer Christiano Ronaldo was signed to Manchester United.
These events seem to overshadow the de-extinction of the Bucardo. Although this was technically the first ever de-extinction of a species, since the kid died just minutes after birth the resurrection did not receive much praise outside of the science community.
Are There Any Downsides to De-Extinction?
