Don’t buy the hype about “de-extinction.”

Let’s start with what should be obvious: The wolf pups are not dire wolves, and they haven’t been “de-extincted.”

The fluffy white canines — Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi — unveiled this week by Colossal Biosciences are closer to something like designer dogs. More precisely, they are genetically modified, hybridized modern wolves, gestated in the womb of a domestic dog. But that wouldn’t sound as impressive on a magazine cover.

  • floofloof
    11·
    6 days ago

    De-extinction critics have pointed out that the technology creates a moral hazard: It could simply be used as an excuse to allow vulnerable animals to go extinct and assume we can just bring them back later. And they have a point. Soon after Colossal’s news about their wolves this week, the Trump administration embraced the technology and suggested removing legal protections for endangered species.

    Of course they did. This US administration misses no opportunity to do evil things for profit. And of course they don’t make any effort to understand the science or the ethical issues. They are greedy dumb people.