As part of MPCD's Save the Frogs Youth Education program, we discuss de-extinction with the eighth graders.  We do not tell the students whether de-extinction is right or wrong, rather we show a video about de-extinction and allow the students to discuss their thoughts on the topic.  

Some of the discussion points include:

Should we bring back species if the reason they went extinct still exists?  For example, if habitat destruction caused the exinction of a given species, what will prevent ongoing habitat destruction from causing that same species from going extinct again.  

For species that went exinct a long time ago, is the habitat and climate the same?  If not, would we be setting it up for a second extinction?

With all the environmental issues facing living species, would the funding be better spent on saving living species rather than bringing extinct species back?

The Woolly Mouse

 Many of you may have recently read about the latest step toward de-extinction: the woolly mouse.  The Woolly Mouse is genetically engineered species in which the long hair genes from wooly maammoth DNA has been introduced into a mouse.  The company that made the "miracle" happen, Colossal Biosciences, hopes to have live Woolly Mammoths in just a few years.  

Read more about the Woolly Mouse:

‘Woolly mammoth mice’ are now real (and posing a major ethical dilemma) | BBC Science Focus Magazine