How Transgenic Species Could Help Fight the Effects of Climate Change
What do bleach-resistant coral, mammoth-elephant hybrids, and drought- and CO2-resistant crops have in common? A growing group of scientists think they might be the key to not just fighting climate change, but recovering from its effects. The theory is called “facilitated adaptation,” and it means using genetically modified species to optimize the health of our ecosystems as they exist right now. The idea is to blend technologies for de-extinction, gene-editing, and synthetic biology in order to preserve wildlife and conserve Earth’s ecosystems at the maximum possible levels.
Earth is home to more than eight million known species, but they are dying off 1,000 times more rapidly than we’d expect given the natural background rate. This has lead many experts to declare that we are now in the midst of the sixth major mass extinction event in our planet’s history. Biodiversity is key to the survival of humans, and of the Earth’s ecosystems as a whole, so this is a major issue demanding human attention. Many scientists believe that although we engineered the crisis, we can also engineer a solution, and this is the basis for facilitated adaptation.
Sounds too far-fetched or ethically fraught to work? The far-fetched part is easy to put to bed. The technologies exist, and they work. CRISPR makes it possible to create things like transgenic salmon that grow twice as fast as their natural brethren. We’ve treated mosquitoes with bacteria so they can fight the Zika and dengue viruses in the wild. Researchers have been racing to create “super coral”adapted to a warmer climate. And a mammoth-elephant hybrid really is on the way, thanks to gene-editing.
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