De-Extinction in Action: Scientists Consider a Plan to Reinject Long-Gone DNA into the Black-Footed Ferret Population

By David Biello | Scientific American | August 1, 2016

In 1987 only 18 black-footed ferrets were known to exist, but thanks to captive breeding and intensive management, the animals are a few hundred strong now. Yet like many species that bounce back from such small numbers, all the individuals are basically half-siblings—genetic near clones, with the same susceptibility to hereditary health problems, to potential pathogens or to environmental changes that could lead to population collapse. In an effort to boost the ferrets’ genetic variability and odds of long-term survival, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is considering something extreme: a plan to reintroduce DNA that was lost to the population but still exists in long-dead specimens stored in zoos and museums. The effort may not sound as outlandish as the dream of resurrecting the woolly mammoth, but it does involve reviving genes that died with their hosts—and as such, it won’t be easy.

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