Scientists are getting very close to bringing a few iconic species, like woolly mammoths and dodos, back from extinction. That may not be a good thing.
The genetic science is cool, the consequences of the science are non-existent. The consequences of using them as bio-engineering agents is obviously an open question, but a distraction at this point of time since governments around the world have no appetite for environmental science that doesn’t directly make someone money.
As for “what happens next,” it either becomes commercially viable and wolly mammoths are seen as mundane and numerous in the next few decades, or it becomes a one-off like Dolly the sheep and the herd population of woolly mammoths stays <10 plus maybe a few zoos.
The genetic science is cool, the consequences of the science are non-existent. The consequences of using them as bio-engineering agents is obviously an open question, but a distraction at this point of time since governments around the world have no appetite for environmental science that doesn’t directly make someone money.
As for “what happens next,” it either becomes commercially viable and wolly mammoths are seen as mundane and numerous in the next few decades, or it becomes a one-off like Dolly the sheep and the herd population of woolly mammoths stays <10 plus maybe a few zoos.