De-extinction by Srini Vallabhaneni, Atlanta, GA

“Earth is in the middle of our sixth mass extinction” Explains Science Magazine. We kill off millions of species And some of those provide vital functions to the environment. In the future our environment will be a mess if we continue at this rate. But now through tried and tried experiments scientists have found a way to undo our horrible mistake. De- Extinction can bring species that were previously lost back to life. This will not only restore amazing ecological function but it is also undoing our tremendous blunder.

Though the reintroduction of animals could benefit us in ways that were never seen before. People believe that the reintroduction of animals could be catastrophic. Oxford Academic announced “Animals such as the wooly mammoth will likely invoke a huge opposition based on how long it has been extinct.” Animals could be potentially invasive to other animals living in the same target habitats. These animals have the same amount of potential to destroy rather than help their environments. Scientists however have devised a way to avoid this problem. As Science Magazine indicates “ Scientists can select target species with unique functions, they will concentrate on those who went extinct recently, and only work with those who can be restored to levels of abundance that can meaningfully advance ecological function.” By choosing these animals and these animals alone the problem of invasive species is virtually gone. Choosing animals that disappeared recently will not change the food web or cycle drastically. Species can help the environment become better for everyone and species that are functionally unique can restore vital and lost functions.

Like mentioned in the previous paragraph species that are functionally unique are a primary concern in bringing back. Science Magazine briefly mentions why they are important: “Some animals are functionally unique and when they went extinct their habitats changed dramatically.” Oxford Academic backs this up by saying “ When large herbivores disappeared the ecosystem transitioned into today’s taiga/tundra. Now it releases two times more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than any other place on earth.” Restoring these animals brings back ecological function that was previously unknown. It also in turn opens that environment to new species which leads to their habitats becoming even more enriched and more ecologically functional.

By reintroducing lost species we are not only helping our environment but we are also undoing our past mistakes. Humans kill anywhere from 30-159 total species every day. By the end of the decade humans will kill more than 2000 animal species alone. Our past and current mistakes have led to the extinction of millions or even billions of species disappearing. As Nature: an International Journal of Science states “De-extinction is our opportunity to rewrite past wrongs and atone for our moral failings. ”By Reintroducing animals we are only returning the world to it’s form before humans destroyed it.

Basically we humans as a whole are destroying the world, But by utilizing de-extinction we are undoing one of the most major sins ever committed. Through this way of reviving animals we are helping and saving the world that we started the demise of. In total we are both saving the environment and saving our morals by going through with de-extinction.

Works Cited

Minteer, Ben. “Is It Right to Reverse Extinction” Nature an International Science Journal,

Nature Publishing Group, 14 May.2004. Web. 20 Feb. 2020.

Oxford Academic Bioscience. Jorgensen, Dolly. “Reintroduction and De-Extinction.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 1 Sept. 2013, Web. 20 Feb. 2020

Shultz, David. “Should we bring extinct species back from the dead” Science, American

Association to Advance Science. 26 Sep. 2016. Web. 20 Feb,2020.