Plant Species Extinction and Opportunities for De-extinction.
Soltis DE, Shan S, Stull GW, Soltis PS
De Extinction
Species that vanished from your region in the last few centuries — the wildflowers, native shrubs, and woodland plants that shaped local ecosystems — may one day be candidates for revival and reintroduction into restored habitats you can visit or tend.
Plants are disappearing at alarming rates for many of the same reasons animals are — people are destroying habitat, changing the climate, and spreading invasive species. Unlike animals, plants can't easily move to better locations when conditions change, especially when human development blocks the way. Scientists are now exploring whether plants driven extinct by humans could be brought back using DNA preserved in old museum specimens and modern gene-editing techniques.
Key Findings
Plants face extinction from the same drivers as animals (habitat loss, climate change, invasive species, disease, overharvesting), but human-altered landscapes make climate-driven range shifts especially difficult for plants.
De-extinction of plants is already technically feasible using CRISPR gene editing and DNA extracted from herbarium specimens, particularly for species with living close relatives.
The authors focus ethical discussion on species driven extinct by human activity within the past few hundred years, implying a prioritization framework for de-extinction candidates.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Plants face severe extinction risks from habitat loss, climate change, and human activity — but new gene-editing tools and preserved DNA from museum collections may allow scientists to bring recently lost plant species back to life.
Abstract Preview
Extinction has received considerable attention in animals, particularly charismatic vertebrates. Plants, like animals, face alarming extinction risks with many of the same underlying causes includi...
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