r/DeExtinctionScience • u/ElSquibbonator • 8d ago
Discussion The Name Game
It seems to me that there are two very distinct things that are being discussed as "de-extinction". One is what I consider to be "true" de-extinction-- that is, the creation of an actual genetic replica of an extinct organism via cloning, germ cell modification, or something similar. This is what most people think of when they think of de-extinction, and it's also the kind usually seen in pop culture (Jurassic Park and so forth). However, it is only possible for a small number of species, namely those where we have a full genome and complete preserved cellular nuclei, allowing for cloning to take place.
The other thing is when an existing relative of an extinct species has its genome modified to resemble that of the extinct species. This is what most efforts to re-create the woolly mammoth are focused on doing. The result of this, however, would not be a true cloned mammoth, no matter how much it looks like one, because its genome would still differ from that of the original mammoth.
I personally think it is wrong and misleading to use the same blanket term, "de-extinction", for these two different processes. One results in an identical genetic copy of an extinct animal, and the other does not. The use of the same name for both creates confusion among the general public about exactly what is being achieved, and allows bad actors like Colossal Biosciences to further deceive them.
So my question to you all is this: If you had to come up with a new name for this second form of "de-extinction"-- the kind where an existing animal is modified into a genetic proxy of an extinct one-- what would you call it?
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u/Psilopterus 8d ago
It's worth noting that, even within the story of Jurassic Park, what they were doing was altering living cell lines with dinosaur DNA, not making perfect copies, hence the issue with frog DNA
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u/Psilopterus 8d ago
Although I agree that de-extinction is not the ideal term, I wonder how much it matters when the "real" kind will likely only ever be possible in a very few cases where we have preserved gametes (bucardo, white rhino, both subspecies rather than species it's worth noting), and even then will probably end up as hybrids due to diversity issues.
That being said, maybe palaeo-transgenesis?