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cover of episode Why do scientists want to bring back extinct animals?

Why do scientists want to bring back extinct animals?

2025/4/11
logo of podcast What in the World

What in the World

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Beth Shapiro: 我们利用灰狼作为基础,通过基因编辑技术,将从古代猛犸象化石中提取的DNA片段整合到灰狼基因组中,成功创造出了具有部分猛犸象特征的狼,我们相信这项技术可以应用于其他灭绝动物的‘复活’。这项技术突破了以往的限制,为我们提供了前所未有的机会去探索和理解生命演化的奥秘。我们相信,这项技术不仅具有科学研究价值,也为保护生物多样性提供了新的途径。 我们致力于推动这项技术的发展,并将其应用于更多灭绝动物的‘复活’工作中。我们相信,通过这项技术,我们可以弥补人类活动对自然环境造成的破坏,并为未来的物种保护工作提供新的思路。我们也意识到这项技术所面临的挑战和争议,我们将积极与各方进行沟通,确保这项技术能够得到安全和负责任地应用。 Victoria Gill: Colossal公司利用基因编辑技术创造出的并非真正的猛犸象狼,而是经过基因改造的灰狼,其基因组中只包含少量猛犸象基因。虽然这项技术在科学上令人印象深刻,但它并不能代表真正意义上的‘复活灭绝动物’。这些动物并非生物学意义上的猛犸象狼,它们的基因组绝大部分来自灰狼,只是在某些特定基因上进行了修改。 此外,目前Colossal公司只创造了三只基因改造的狼,数量太少,基因多样性不足,无法形成可持续的种群。即使成功创造出‘长毛猛犸象’,它也只是猛犸象和亚洲象的杂交物种,其意义和用途值得商榷。更重要的是,复活灭绝动物面临诸多挑战,例如合适的栖息地和食物来源缺失。Colossal公司所谓的‘复活灭绝动物’并不能替代真正的物种保护工作,反而可能误导公众,认为可以随意破坏环境,再通过基因技术‘修复’物种。这是一种危险的观念,我们应该更加重视真正的物种保护和生物多样性保护工作。

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The US company Colossal claim to have brought back the dire wolf from extinction after 12,000 years through genetic engineering. The three pups, called Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi, are now living in an undisclosed nature preserve, unaware that their existence has made headlines around the world. But Colossal aren’t finished yet, they want to continue to “de-extinct” other animals, such as the woolly mammoth.

BBC Science Correspondent Victoria Gill explains how the experiment was done. How realistic is “de-extinction”? And are these actually dire wolves?

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: William Lee Adams Producers: Josh Jenkins and Emilia Jansson Editor: Emily Horler