Scientists concerned about de-extinction ethics as biotech company heralds 'breakthrough' | RNZ News

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Mary Argue, Reporter

mary.argue@rnz.co.nz

Photo: Supplied / Te Ara

Scientists are once-again raising concerns about de-extinction as a US biotech company promotes a "major breakthrough" in artificial egg technology.

Colossal Biosciences on Wednesday announced the development of an artificial egg that it says is a crucial step toward resurrecting the South Island giant moa - a project financially backed by filmmaker Sir Peter Jackson and run in partnership with Ngāi Tahu Research Centre and Canterbury Museum.

Colossal said 26 chickens had been successfully hatched from its largely transparent, silicone-based membrane lattice, which it said could be produced at scale and at any size.

Chief biological officer Andrew Pask said an artificial egg is necessary in any attempt to bring back the moa, as no living species is large enough to be a surrogate host.

The large flightless bird died out around 500 years ago.

Pask described the recent developments as "major, major breakthroughs".

Colossal Biosciences Australia-based chief biology officer, Andrew Pask.<br>Photo: Supplied / Colossal Biosciences

University of Otago associate professor and paleogeneticist Nic Rawlence has been an outspoken critic of Colossal's mission and claims of de-extinction.

He noted there was no data or peer-reviewed publication to go with Colossal's announcement, but nevertheless considered its artificial egg a breakthrough.

"Credit where credit is due, this is really impressive work that could result in a new tool in the conservation toolbox in the future.

"Combined with genome engineering techniques still in development, [this technology] may be able to reverse the impacts of inbreeding on low hatching success for example."

But he warned it was no "silver bullet" - the grunt work of conservation remained critical.

For him, the impressive development was the artificial egg membrane that allowed oxygen to diffuse from the environment into the egg - overcoming a decades-old gas-exchange hurdle.

Colossal Biosciences is describing its artificial egg as a "major breakthrough" in its de-extinction moa project.<br>Photo: Supplied / Christopher Klee (Colossal Biosciences)

He said despite the achievement, moa de-extinction was not imminent.

"It still requires an embryo and yolk to be carefully added to the artificial egg. Given the large size differences between chicken eggs and emu (up to 12 times bigger) and moa (up to 80 times bigger), there won't be enough yolk in living birds' eggs for the development of a giant 'moa' chick.

"The development of a genetically engineered emu and calling it a moa for no good conservation or ecological reason is still a long way off."

Rawlence remained concerned about opposition to de-extinction from some iwi but hoped the technology would be made publicly available for conservation.

His university colleague, associate professor and geneticist Michael Knapp said the future of the technology raised many questions, but considered the artificial egg to have real conservation potential when combined with gene-editing.

He said species such as kākāpō and the kakī/black stilt - which only had a few hundred birds left - could profit from both breeding in artificial eggs and introducing genetic variation.

Embryo development.<br>Photo: Supplied / Colossal Biosciences

Knapp said Colossal had drawn criticism from him previously, and others, around its de-extinction announcements.

"But the longer I look at it, the more I think, it doesn't really matter how its communicated. The innovation is real and the progress is real and it's done with money, which I'm fairly certain would otherwise not have been available for conservation research."

Massey University professor and animal welfare scientist Ngaio Beausoleil said Colossal's achievement did nothing to address the "ethical, ecological and social complexities of this and other applications of genetic technologies to animals".

She said the necessary checks and balances were not in place to protect the welfare of 'some day animals', and considered the Gene Technology Bill - awaiting its second reading - a missed opportunity.

"The concern for us as animal welfare scientists is that we have seen first-hand just how difficult it is to change systems once they come into existence, systems that are found to cause animal suffering and once they're in place they're incredibly difficult to change.

"We kind of get a 'Pandora's box' situation, where once something is possible ... it's very unlikely we're going to be able to put a stop to it."

She wanted to see rules in place that embedded animal welfare evaluation in such technological development.

Photo: Supplied

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