Even the most conservative estimates predict that 15–40% of living species will be effectively extinct by 2050 as a result of climate change, habitat loss and other consequences of human activities. In the face of such drastic losses, scientists are debating the pros and cons of various, and often controversial, interventions. These include moving populations to help track hospitable habitats, and reinstating keystone species into areas where they have long been absent.
Even the revival of species that have recently gone extinct is being explored.
Conservationists will almost certainly be tempted to apply genetic engineering to safeguard biodiversity. But facilitated adaptation is likely to be beset with challenges and pitfalls. Now is the time to consider what those might be.
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Read the full, original story here: Ecology: Gene tweaking for conservation
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