The sixth extinction crisis can be stopped, but only through assisted breeding and de-extinction initiatives.

The world has entered the sixth extinction crisis with the loss of species having a devastating impact on the biodiversity crucial to human survival.

The process of extinction can be stopped by building technology, solutions and processes that can help us secure animal DNA and begin to reverse the damage created by humans.

Assisted breeding, cloning and genome editing and synthetic genomics can all aid de-extinction.

The environment around us is rapidly changing. Experts estimate that the loss of species we are seeing today is between 1,000 and 10,000 times higher than the natural extinction rate. This is the sixth extinction crisis. While you may never notice some of those species, each plays an important role in maintaining the diverse ecosystems that are central to human existence.

Why diverse ecosystems matter

“Biodiversity supports human and societal needs, including food and nutrition security, energy, development of medicines and pharmaceuticals and freshwater, which together underpin good health. It also supports economic opportunities, and leisure activities that contribute to overall well-being,” says the World Health Organization.

Number of Threatened Species is Rising

The number of species under threat of extinction is rising.

Image: Statista

On a more acute level, changes that affect how ecosystems function or cause significant disruptions to ecosystems can damage our capacity for discovering chemicals and genes within nature that can provide humans with numerous health benefits.

We are also destroying food chains and habitats that are required for human survival. The less diverse our ecosystems are, the less able they are to provide food, shelter and support for the human species.

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What can we do about it?

We need numerous, cooperative and coordinated efforts to stop the sixth extinction crisis. Some of these efforts must focus on stopping fossil fuel emissions, integrating green technologies and encouraging collaborative social action. We must also work to actively stop the process of extinction by building technology, solutions and processes that can help us secure animal DNA and begin to reverse the damage created by humans.

Colossal, a company I co-founded in 2021 with George Church, is focused on de-extinction. Our first ambitious project is to bring back the woolly mammoth in collaboration with Dr George Church of Harvard University. The project requires that we make numerous big scientific leaps that will help us de-extinct other species including our second species, the Tasmanian tiger. Bold de-extinction projects matter because they improve the entire field of de-extinction, conservation and species preservation.

De-extinction reverses plant and animal extinctions by creating new proxy versions of previously lost species. Conservationists frame de-extinction as “deep ecological enrichment” or restoring ecosystem functions lost through the extinctions of keystone species, which leave an ecological void by their absence. This idea is the motivation for de-extinction projects: releasing resurrected animals into suitable habitats so as to increase biodiversity and restore ecosystem resilience. Assisted breeding, cloning and genome editing are species restoration methods undertaken with the goal of re-establishing the dynamic processes that produce healthy ecosystems and restore biodiversity.

Species threatened with extinction

Species at risk of extinction according to the 2022 IUCN Red List

Image: Statista

How does the world de-extinct?

To de-extinct species, there are established research methods which include assisted breeding, cloning and genetic engineering.

Assisted breeding uses the principles of biobanking and assisted reproductive technologies to help restore species.