“Horse-Sized Ducks Are Out Of The Question—Mechanical Problems. A Horse That Quacks, Maybe.”

March 22, 2013 in Excerpts, Science/Tech | Permalink

Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Catalog editor who knew what the Digital Age would bring decades before it arrived, is today heavily invested in the de-extinction movement. He just did an excellent Ask Me Anything on Reddit. A few exchanges follow.

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Question:

What species do you think would be the most valuable to bring back and why?

Stewart Brand:

“Most valuable” is an essential question, evolving as we speak. For some it would mean “most loved” or “most missed.” The ivory-billed woodpecker ranks high there. I’m interested in “most ecologically enriching.” That often means “keystone species” or “ecosystem engineer.” High ranked there is the woolly mammoth, maker of the “mammoth steppe” in the far north. Also the passenger pigeon, who enriched the entire eastern deciduous forest.

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Question:

What proportion of these species will face a major habitat problem when they’re brought back? I imagine that at least a few will be back under display-only circumstances.

Stewart Brand:

Thanks for this question, because it comes up a lot, usually in Tragic mode—“The poor passenger pigeons will suffer because their old habitat is gone!” In most cases habitat for revived species will as good as ever or much improved from when they went extinct. The eastern woodlands have grown back ferociously since the late 1800s, when they were most deforested and the passenger pigeon was hunted to death. The north Atlantic has plenty of fish for the great auk, when it returns. Woolly mammoths will relish the boreal forests of the north, and commence turning them back into more biodiverse grasslands.

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Question:

What will you do with the animals once you bring them back to life? Put them in the wild? Zoo?

Stewart Brand:

The sequence is: lab, zoo, wild. You need the zoo for captive-breeding to generate a large enough population, with enough genetic variability, to be able to prosper in the wild. The tricky bit is that zoos are cushy for animals compared to the wild. Managing a toughening-up boot camp for lazy passenger pigeons will be interesting. “Listen up, bird. This is a falcon. He is not your friend.”

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Question:

What are the possible negative effects from your research? Has anyone/any group expressed concern regarding possible negative outcomes?

(Not looking for negatives, just wondering. I’m personally stoked about the research you all have been doing!)

Stewart Brand:

I think one valid negative is the question of whether species-revival technology can be used for species-creation. Suppose someone wants to create a duck-sized horse, for example. Or a one-eyed, one-horned flying purple people eater. Norms will emerge, I suppose. 

I should add that horse-sized ducks are out of the question—mechanical problems. A horse that quacks, maybe.

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