The Jurassic Park Protocol

Should genetic engineering be used to bring back extinct species?

Up until approximately 4,500 years ago, the Woolly Mammoth roamed across the Yukon, Alaska, Siberia, Europe and the southern region of North America. At the end of the last major Ice Age, the Woolly Mammoth became extinct, and thousands of other organisms also disappeared including large mammals like the Saber-Tooth Tiger, Giant Sloth, and a beaver the size of a black bear. In more recent history, birds like the flightless Dodo and marsupials, including the Tasmanian Tiger, have disappeared, and countless smaller animals, plants, insects, and microbes have vanished from our planet.

Although extinction is also a natural process, many species on the threshold of survival have been pushed over the edge by human activities such as over-hunting, habitat destruction, and the introduction of invasive species. When other factors like climate change and pollution are thrown into the mix, it isn’t too difficult to see how cumulative effects will continue to push vulnerable and endangered animals like the Giant Panda, Polar Bear, Pacific Walrus, Leatherback Turtle, Mountain Gorilla, Monarch Butterfly, and Bluefin Tuna into the dustbin of history.

With advances in the science of genetic engineering, we now have the capability to create hybrids of extinct mammals and clones of vulnerable and endangered ones, but is this the right thing to do?

Many have suggested that this technology can and should play a role in the conservation of species, and that viable DNA is the modern equivalent of Noah's Ark. Some argue that an ethical imperative exists to assist in species conservation or resurrection, and that modern technology should be deployed quickly and broadly to reverse this trend. Although there are theoretical benefits associated with this approach, many of the risks are well documented including the introgression of transgenes into wild populations, the development of new pathogens or diseases, and the destabilization of ecosystems through aggressive and clearly unorthodox interventions.

Cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer involves replacing an egg's nucleus with the nucleus of an adult cell to be cloned. In the United States, consumers now eat unlabelled meat and dairy products derived from cloned animals. Cloning technology is now commonplace and it represents a clear example of science fiction becoming science reality. Steven Spielberg's film adaptation of Michael Crichton's 1990 novel Jurassic Park propelled into our collective consciousness the possibilities and horrors associated with using this technology in particular ways. Advances in genetic engineering have made possible what I call the “Jurassic Park Protocol.”

The creation of hybrids from extinct mammals is only one manifestation of how genetic engineering could be used. Dr. Kevin Campbell from the University of Manitoba synthesized Woolly Mammoth hemoglobin from recovered tissue to better understand how this mammal survived the extreme conditions of the Siberian Arctic. By inserting Mammoth RNA into a common bacterium known as Escherichia coli (or E. coli), Dr. Campbell and his team have brought back to life a protein from an extinct animal. Obviously, there is a big leap between synthesizing hemoglobin and creating a Mammoth hybrid with a close relative like the Indian Elephant, but the technology now exists to make this a reality.

Fossilized remains from extinct mammals like the Woolly Mammoth have research applications that do not specifically employ the Jurassic Park Protocol. For instance, research by Dr. Stephen Sims from the University of Western Ontario involves examining slivers of ivory from Mammoth tusks. This work is yielding new insights into the structure and function of bone cells known as osteoclasts, and hopefully a greater understanding of how these cells control bone dissolution and absorption will yield new tools and approaches for managing diseases like osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

It seems unlikely to me that cloned animals and resurrected animals, including the Woolly Mammoth, will ever be used to reestablish breeding colonies and to repopulate natural ecosystems. These ecosystems have changed in ways that will severely affect the viability of these animals, and existing population pressures including habitat destruction will continue to threaten other animals, too.

In my view, conservation efforts should focus on saving existing threatened and endangered species. Resources that might be directed toward misguided approaches like the Jurassic Park Protocol are acceptable if our real interest is in creating new zoos and exotic pets, but useless for broader conservation efforts.

The Dodo was last sighted in 1662 on an islet off the coast of Mauritius. Through the science of genetic engineering we can bring back this strange and wonderful bird. In my opinion, the Dodo has more power as an icon and as a reminder of humanity's greed and thoughtlessness, and as a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's (1865) novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. If we fall into this particular rabbit hole, we might never get out again.