De-extinction of species feasible but not sustainable

If you hear the 15 second-video clip (available on YouTube) of the last call of male Kaua’i Õ´Õ bird for its mate before the species went extinct in 1987, you cannot miss the epical sense of urgency in its voice.

- SATISH KUMAR SHARMA

It is as if the bird were sending out an appeal to the humanity saying “Please, Please save us or we might be lost forever!” Unfortunately, its mate had already died and it too met the same fate leaving a permanent, if tiny, void in the vast mosaic of life.

However, modern science has opened a window of hope. It is possible to resurrect a lost species and Colossal Biosciences – a biotech start-up based in Texas is actually working to bring back to life the woolly mammoth which went extinct 4,000 years ago, dodo -lost in the 17th century and the Tasmanian tiger (aka thylacine) extinct since 1982. And they hope to do it by 2028.