CRISPR/Cas system: A powerful tool for de-extinction

Abstract

The rapid advances in CRISPR technology have opened up new avenues of research and provided hope for a future where extinct species can be brought back to life. De-extinction, the process of resurrecting extinct species by using genetic engineering techniques, is one potential application of CRISPR technology that has gained increasing attention in recent years. The idea is to recover the genetic information of extinct species from preserved tissue samples and recreate them using modern genetic engineering techniques. George Church, a geneticist at Harvard University, is one of the leading scientists exploring the potential of CRISPR for de-extinction. He has spearheaded efforts to resurrect the woolly mammoth, which went extinct over 4,000 years ago, by inserting mammoth DNA into the genome of the Asian elephant. While this project is still in its early stages, it has sparked renewed interest in using CRISPR to bring back other extinct species, such as the Pyrenean ibex, the passenger pigeon, and the Tasmanian tiger. This review paper aims to explore the potential of CRISP technology for de-extinction, including its technical and ethical challenges, and the progress that has been made in various de-extinction projects involving CRISPR technology.