Genetic Technology Is No Solution for Species Loss

Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum quickly embraced the news of de-extinction technology Monday, as news broke of a bioscience engineering company genetically modifying gray wolf DNA to include characteristics of the dire wolf, an animal that went extinct more than 10,000 years ago. This premature and misguided celebration glosses over real, present-day conservation concerns and threatens progress to recover species teetering on the edge of extinction. 

Mike Senatore, senior vice president of conservation programs at Defenders of Wildlife issued the following response: 

“Developing genetic technology cannot be viewed as the solution to human caused extinction, especially not when this administration is seeking to actively destroy the habitats and legal protections imperiled species need. Our research efforts, conservation dollars, and legal tools should be focused on restoring and preserving the species currently on the ground and in need of help, rather than immediately politicizing scientific achievements.  

“If Secretary Burgum truly believed in wildlife conservation, he would not be opening massive swaths of our public lands to unnecessary logging, drilling and mining, nor would he be eliminating regulations critical to safeguarding endangered and imperiled species. 

“The Endangered Species Act has saved 99% of species listed from extinction, yet has been chronically underfunded for years, starved for the resources it needs to successfully remove species from listing. 

“What we are seeing is anti-wildlife, pro-business politicians vilify the Endangered Species Act and claim we can Frankenstein our way to the future where nothing is natural but instead born out of a petri dish and raised in a man-made ecosystem.” 

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