Scientists Attempt to Bring Back the Extinct Dodo Species Amidst Controversy

by Zayn Khalid, age 13

Maybe you have heard of scientists trying to bring back certain animals from extinction. The dodo bird is the newest focus of this effort by scientists.

Colossal Bioscience is a genetic engineering and reproductive technology company. Colossal Bioscience first started the project to revive extinct species two years ago. They first focused on the wooly mammoth, but the company now also focuses on bird-related genetic technologies too. The last dodo bird was killed in 1681 on the Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius.

Colossal Bioscience’s project to bring back extinct animals caught the attention of many investors, but some scientists have doubts about it. The project won’t directly make money, but the genetic tools and equipment the company will build and use will ultimately benefit other projects, making the investments beneficial.

The dodo bird’s closest living relative is the Nicobar pigeon. Beth Shapiro, who has been studying the dodo bird for two decades, will be working with her team to study the DNA differences between the Nicobar pigeon and the dodo bird to see what genes “really make a dodo a dodo.” Shapiro told the Wisconsin State Journal (WSJ), “It is not possible to recreate an exact identical copy of something that is gone.”

Other scientists wonder if it is even smart to bring back extinct animals. Duke University ecologist Stuart Pimm told the WSJ there’s a “real hazard” in saying that if we destroy nature we can just “put it back together again.” Another concern Pimm addresses is, “Where would we even put the wooly mammoth other than in a cage?” Furthermore, some scientists think that we should focus on the animals that are endangered rather than those that are extinct.

[Source: Wisconsin State Journal]