Last month Time magazine published a story entitled “The Return of The Dire Wolf”. Having roamed America’s continent for thousands of years, the dire wolf had gone extinct around 10,000 years ago. Until, that is, a company called Colossal Biosciences claims that it has managed to bring the species back to life in the form of two wolf pups: Romulus and Remus.

But despite the scientific wonders of gene editing, can we be sure that these pups are genetically identical to the dire wolfs of the past? And even if such a miraculous process of de-extinction – bringing back to life species that have gone extinct – is practically possible, is it a good idea? Are we are morally obliged to bring lost species back to life if we can, especially if humans were responsible for their extinction? Or would such practices risk “Jurassic Park”-like scenarios, while our limited resources for environmental conservation are best channelled in preserving existing species?

Jay Odenbaugh is a Professor of Humanities at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, USA. His research is in the philosophy of science, especially conservation biology and environmental philosophy. He is the author of Ecological Models published by Cambridge University press in 2019 and has written about the ethics and aesthetics of species conservation and de-extinction.

Alexis Papazoglou is Managing Editor of the LSE British Politics and Policy blog. He was previously senior editor for the Institute of Arts and Ideas, and a philosophy lecturer at Cambridge and Royal Holloway. He is also host of the podcast, “The Philosopher and the News”.