Scientists want to resurrect the famous dodo, the bird that disappeared more than 300 years ago

Anicet Mbida 06:51, February 02, 2023

Today's innovation is reminiscent of the movie Jurassic Park.

Scientists want to resuscitate the famous dodo.

The bird disappeared more than 300 years ago.

Do you know the expression?

“To ask too much if it is possible… scientists end up forgetting if it is desirable.

We have just had a new example with the start-up Colossal Biosciences.

You may know them.

They are the ones who announced that they were going to resuscitate the mammoth and the Tasmanian tiger thanks to genetic engineering.

At the time, they passed for a bit eccentric.

But now they have received funding of almost 150 million euros.

That is to say much more than animal preservation institutes or associations.

So the work is going well.

The baby mammoth could arrive within two years.

And their new fad is “de-extinction” as they say of the dodo, the animal… which perhaps most symbolizes the extinction of a species by man.

Do we know why they do this 

?

That's the big question.

The dodo lived quietly, in harmony with its environment, on Mauritius.

The man arrived with his cats, his dogs, his pigs… He introduced new predators which ended up exterminating the bird.

It's fine to want to fix the mistake.

But if we resuscitate the dodo, in what environment will it be able to flourish?

Same thing for the woolly mammoth.

What is the point of bringing it back to life when we are in the midst of global warming?

We asked them the question.

And according to them, it is above all to advance science and our knowledge of the animal world.

It's not to put them in a zoo.

Finally, they are convinced that the technologies they are working on could be used to preserve current species.

And do you believe it?

It's always the same refrain… So, it is true that many scientific advances have been made thanks to research that had nothing to do with the original subject.

So I'll be the last to bridle researchers.

But there, we still have the impression of dealing with sorcerer's apprentices who want to replay the scenario of Jurrasic Park for us.

But we've all seen the film… we know how it ended.