Nature 4.0: Assisted Evolution, De-extinction, and EcologicalRestoration Technologies

LesliePaul Thiele

Global Environmental Politics, 2020, vol. 20, issue 3, 9-27

Abstract: Humans have served their needs and interests by modifying plants, animals, andecosystems for millennia. Technology has expanded, accelerated, and intensifiedthe impact. Experimental efforts are now under way to rescue or re-create natureemploying highly sophisticated technologies. These endeavors are not aimed atsatisfying basic human needs or serving economic interests; their goal is theconservation of biodiversity and ecological restoration. At the same time, theyfundamentally alter the fabric of life and guarantee unintended consequences. Anexamination of the ecological and cultural risks, benefits, and costs ofemploying synthetic biology to assist evolution and de-extinct species providesa valuable test case for environmentalists and conservationists grappling withthe implications of ecological restoration technologies.

Date: 2020
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