Back from the brink: experimental de-extinction in a model-organism to restore lost diversity

Human activities are driving species to extinction and eroding genetic diversity, which is crucial to surviving climate change. Over the past decades, genetic engineering has opened possibilities to de-extinct species. But could gene editing be better used to rescue genetic diversity and avoid extinction? Could it improve the evolutionary potential of threatened species and help them cope with environmental change? What are its long-term risks? Although gene editing is widely used in biomedical research, its potential in conservation remains unknown due to ethical hurdles. We propose to overcome this obstacle by leveraging on Caenorhabditis elegans model species. We will edit genes by CRISPR and integrate lost diversity into populations experimentally pushed to the brink of extinction. The goal is to establish sustainable methods to recover genetic diversity. This foundational experiment is critically needed to assess the potential of gene editing in biodiversity conservation.