Should Scientists Resurrect Extinct Species (De-Extinction)?
Assess whether using CRISPR to bring back woolly mammoths and passenger pigeons restores ecosystems or wastes funds needed for living species.
Pick a Side
Choose a position to defend, or let fate assign your stance.
Arguments FOR
1. Restores critical keystone ecological functions in degraded habitats
Resurrecting mammoth-like cold-adapted elephants can trample Arctic snow, insulating permafrost and preventing the release of gigatons of trapped greenhouse gases.
2. Pioneers revolutionary genetic tools to save endangered living species
De-extinction cloning advances directly assist critically endangered animals like the northern white rhino and black-footed ferret through genetic rescue.
3. Redresses human-caused extinctions and ecological debt
Humans drove passenger pigeons, the dodo, and the thylacine to extinction through hunting and habitat destruction; bringing them back corrects historical harms.
4. Inspires immense global awe and private conservation funding
Bold de-extinction ventures attract hundreds of millions in private venture philanthropy that traditional conservation grants never receive.
Arguments AGAINST
1. Diverts scarce financial resources away from preventing ongoing extinctions
Spending hundreds of millions to recreate a hybrid mammoth while thousands of living species face imminent extinction in the wild is morally backward.
2. Original historical habitats no longer exist to support resurrected animals
Passenger pigeons require billions of mature American chestnut and oak trees; the ecosystems they once inhabited are now paved suburbs and farmland.
3. Severe animal welfare concerns during embryonic cloning trials
Surrogate Asian elephants and other host animals endure painful hormone treatments, miscarriages, and birth defects during genetic cloning experiments.
4. Creates unnatural proxy hybrids rather than genuine authentic species
Editing mammoth cold-resistance genes into an Asian elephant creates a novel laboratory hybrid animal without ancient mammoth cultural learning.
Counter Questions
Questions to challenge claims and probe deeper into trade-offs.
- Can private companies that clone extinct species patent their genomes and exploit them in private theme parks?
- Why does company Colossal Biosciences claim reviving the woolly mammoth is primarily a climate change solution?
- If we can bring back extinct animals, does it weaken the moral urgency to prevent living species from going extinct today?
- What happens to the legal endangered-species status of an artificially synthesized animal?
- Would reviving an extinct species create unpredictable ecological diseases for existing arctic mammals?
Ready to debate this topic?
Prepare your arguments and test your speech against the clock.