Picture this: you’re walking through a zoo looking at all the exotic animals from far-off countries when suddenly you stop in front of an enclosure titled Tyrannosaurus Rex. You look up to find a massive dinosaur roaming around before your very eyes, existing exactly as it had almost 68 million years ago. Seems impossible and outlandish, like a scene taken straight from Jurassic park right? This idea seemed next to impossible only a few years ago, but thanks to the recent advancements in genealogy and genetic engineering we may be closer to Jurassic Park than we think. Currently, scientists all over the world are working on various projects which aim to bring back extinct species, from Mammoths to passenger pigeons, lost species are slowly making a comeback. These organisms aren’t just being brought back because we have the capability to do so, but also because they could have major beneficial impacts on our environment. So today, we’ll dig up some of the methods currently being used to bring back long-dead species, then we’ll uncover how these species can help our current environment, and finally, we’ll relive how we can use this technology to protect endangered animals.
So how are scientists bringing back dead species? Can scientists really use amber-preserved insects to bring dinosaurs back to life, like Jurassic Park? In reality, scientists have tried to do just that; molecular biologist Beth Shapiro tried to extract dinosaur DNA from dead insects during a study in 2016. Unfortunately, they could not successfully extract dinosaur DNA from the insects. Without an existing DNA sequence to work from, geneticists are finding other ways to create dinosaur genomes. Take for example Jack Horner, a world-famous paleontologist, renowned for his current project working to create theropod dinosaurs from chickens. In a 2014 interview with the Washington Post, Horner described the goal of his experiment as transforming a conventional chicken into something resembling a miniature velociraptor. It may seem strange to start with a chicken, however, birds are technically living dinosaurs because they share the same family. In a series of studies conducted by Dr. Jacques Gauthier, he provided some of the first research that supported the theory that birds are descended from theropods, which are a group of dinosaurs that included the massive T-rex, and the fearsome velociraptor. Using chicken embryos, Horner hopes to reverse some of the evolutionary traits which have caused chickens to diverge from theropods. First Horner has to understand how the tail feathers and vertebrates of chickens have evolved, this way he can identify the genes needed to make the chicks develop long, bony tails. Next, he would focus on the genes which cause chickens to develop hard beaks rather than snouts with sharp teeth. Arkaht Abzhanov has already successfully done this in his scientific study during 2015, in which he got chicken embryos to develop crocodile-like snouts. And finally, chicken wings would need to instead develop into claws; which Horner says is surprisingly easy seeing as chickens still have all the same bones necessary to develop clawed hands. Experiments like this serve as hope for many that species extinction may not be as final as we think.
The resurrection of extinct animals is exciting not only because it shows great advancements in technology, but also because it can have tremendous impacts on our environment. Many scientists are hopeful that reintroducing extinct species, or at least species that fill the same niche as extinct species, will help repair some of the damage done to these ecosystems. One project currently underway is reviving the ancient Aurochs, which were a species of massive cattle that roamed the grasslands of Europe. In his 2013 Ted Talk, Henri Otten explains how he plans to bring back the Aurochs through interbreeding with several different types of European cattle. Otten says he is less concerned with creating a perfect genetic copy, but rather making sure they appear and behave as true Aurochs would. Aurochs are grazing animals and they feast on coarse, rough grasses and sometimes saplings or twigs; because of this diet they limit the growth of larger trees and thereby the development of forests. This may seem like a negative at first, however, open grasslands are ideal ecosystems for biodiversity and sustainability rather than forests. In fact, Rewilding Europe– a conservation organization– established the European Wildlife Bank in 2013, which reintroduces wild grazing animals to the European countryside. They use animals such as wild horses, bison, and the newly bred Aurochs to promote diverse grassland ecosystems and help to heal the damage of human interference in these areas. Reviving extinct species could be the key to revitalizing our environment and undoing the damage of human encroachment.
The research into advanced genealogy is not only being used to bring back extinct species but it’s also being used to help endangered species on the brink of extinction. Scientists often worry that the ability to resurrect extinct animals will make people more careless with the living species we have left, however, in the case of the northern white rhino this is the opposite. The northern white rhino currently only has two living members, both of which are females. And although this means they are extinct in practice because they can no longer breed, it does not mean all hope is lost. Scientists at the San Diego zoo are hoping to revive the northern white rhino by using frozen cells taken from live rhinos in 1975. The San Diego Frozen Zoo is a cryobank containing over 10,000 live cell cultures as reported by the Smithsonian in 2019. Oliver Ryder and Jeanne Loring, two geneticists at the San Diego Zoo, are planning to take the skin cells of rhinos stored in the cryobank and transform them into stem cells, and eventually into ova and sperm. It was first discovered that skin cells could be transformed into stem cells in 2006 by Shinya Yamanak. However, the transformation of stem cells into functional gametes has yet to be accomplished. If Ryder and Loring could successfully create gametes, they could then combine them and implant the fertilized egg in a surrogate mother. This use of genetic engineering and innovation could save species from extinction for years to come, and it gives hope that humans can possibly repair some of the harm we have caused to animals and their environment.
So today we researched how extinct species are being brought back to life, we unearthed the benefits of reviving extinct species for our environment, and finally, we dug through how we can prevent endangerment from becoming extinct. Next time you’re in a museum admiring a picture of a looming Brontosaurus, or a viscous velociraptor, just imagine those creatures standing next to you, breathing the same air, existing in the same timeline. And remember that this future is not as impossible as it may seem.