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So really, i ask you? do you think it is ethical to clone this frog to bring it back from extinction?




Personally, i dont. Animals go extinct for a reason, and whilst it is unknown why this frog went extinct, it has happened once before. Meaning it will most likely happen again. Which you could argue, is cruel. Evolution needs to run its course and let the weaker, more poorly designed animals die out. I personally am a very very strong believer in animal rights and their welfare, but to me.. this just seems wrong, i dont believe in god, but i believe they died out for a reason, and if the frogs cant cope, which i would assume is higly likely, they will have to suffer and die out again, which seems pretty unethical.... not to mention reintroducing them is likely to put the ecosystem a bit out of whack, seeing as the very adjustments it made are the ones that are likely to have caused the frog's extinction in the first place..

id be interested to see some other peoples views though

At surface value... it seems like a noble thing to do... bring back extinct species.

However... I agree with you.
That bringing back a species that became extinct due to environmental stresses, is probably not a good practice.
The same reasons, they became extinct, are probably still present... let alone perhaps worse.
Suddenly introducing them back into the eco-system... may prove to imbalance it.

I sometimes wonder if researchers suggesting this, have looked at the environmental factors in depth.
Would this species have enough food to sustain it? What about predators, competitors etc.

I would hope that those factors were well considered before attempting to re-introduce a species back into the environment.

You would hope that they would look into it. But im not so sure... It seems pretty obvious without even looking into it, that these animals aren't going to necessarily cope well in the wild. And whilst no mention of reintroducing them to the wild is there yet, I would assume that the entire purpose of this experiment is to eventually reintroduce them into the wild. Which in my eyes seems pretty obviously foolhardy...

They'll most likely go extinct again if they're brought back, so no.

This probably won't end up well. At least they have good intentions.

LOL... no mention of releasing them back into the wild.
Funny that type of statement is made within the research community all the time... yet.. somehow, someway... an experiment always seems to escape the lab... happens all the time. Whether by protocol failures, or some mis-guided fool who thinks he is doing the world a favour.

As far as researching the viability... I believe they do... but these kinds of things are typically unpredictable. Micro, almost unquantifiable changes takes place over time... perhaps the insect population is 1% above sustainable levels... and introducing this species of frog is just enough to change that figure to 1% below sustainablitity... all of a sudden certain species of spiders, wasps, or other predatious species are at a competition crisis.
The newly introduced species is thriving now, but the other species of animals are not... ripple effect.

I believe that they are probably testing this cloning on reptiles, amphibians first simply because the DNA coding and incubation process is easier than with most mammals. And the bottom line... most people don't care about bugs, reptiles etc... but they get up in arms about mammals in general.

With all that said... I find that this type of research WOULD be viable to reviving species that were extinct due to over-hunting.
Dodo bird, Caspian Tiger, Tarpan etc (there are over 60 species of animals that have said to be extinct from hunting/human influence.)

But unfortunately tampering with nature has proven to be mostly a failure in the past.
Examples are numerous...
Introduction of certain bugs or nematodes to control purple loostrife
Accidental introductions of species, biological controls or genetic modifications to control other endemic species of plants & animals. Cane toad, Nutria, Gray Squirrel, Zebra Mussels etc...

Again... I think a nobel idea... but probably best to try and sustain the species we have left, rather than further strain the fragile balance already in place.

The thing is, it isnt mentioned. and i know they may well always say that, but in this case i cant see any other point in doing this unless someway, at somepoint they intend to use this technology to reintroduce a species. Which is just ludicrous, i dont understand how anyone can justify it. It is playing in territory which personally i dont think we have any right to and it can only end badly.

The problem is, as with most things nowadays (heck i notice it everday at work) problems are never dealt with until they are faced. ie. this technology will be deemed fine and ethical until something bad happens. and when it does, i would bet it will be huge... Like you say, the ripple effect.

Also id like to point out dolly the sheep was the first ever cloned animal. Regardless of methods, it was still the cloning of an animal, and therefore shows they aren't just trying it with reptiles first to test it, they are messing around with something serious here.