Pros And Cons Of The Mammoth Cometh

1528 Words4 Pages

For many years, numerous scientists have been studying de-extinction. This is the process of creating or recreating an organism which is a member of or resembles and extinct species. Recently scientists have started figuring out methods to perform this task. According to Nathaniel Rich’s “The Mammoth Cometh” in the next four to nine years, it is very likely that scientists will re-create the passenger pigeon. Ryan Phelan clearly showed his opinion when he mentioned “De-extinction went from concept to potential reality right before our eyes.”(The Mammoth Cometh.) While trying to understand this concept, at first it is very easy to think of this as a good idea. It seems like it would be breathtaking to see animals that have gone extinct roam …show more content…

Animals can sense when there is something wrong with their baby, and a lot of species will leave it to die if they can sense something is off about it. It seems that the risk factors of this entire process are kept quiet, and because the population has become so technologically advanced in the last twenty years people believe that this is something that can be done without repercussions. In this situation specifically, people are forming an opinion on de extinction without understanding all of the pros and cons on the topic. Many people do not understand quite how much this entire process would cost, and how much time it would take. For example, the California Condor is a large bird that had gone extinct, besides a small number left in captivity. Even though scientists had 100% of the DNA needed to re-create this specie it was still an extremely difficult …show more content…

In order to re-create one animal it would cause more than fifty common animals to be put under a tremendous amount of stress. Not only would this process put the animals under a lot of stress, but also the danger behind de-extinction is a huge risk factor. If an animal that once roamed the planet was brought back and placed into an ecosystem that is thought to belong to the specific animal, there is a possibility of destroying that ecosystem. Since everything in the ecosystem runs off of a pyramid scheme, one small change can very easily cause everything to collapse. The entire process would take an outrageous amount of years, not to mention the amount of money that would be spent, and this still cannot ensure that the lives of these animals are safe. It seems that society feels bad for the damage that has been inflicted on the planet, but it is not possible to reverse it. Overall, the outcome of de-extinction is way more damaging than helpful to the environment, and animals, therefore it should not be done at

Open Document