Environment Life

Gene editing explored to help endangered species

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July 23, 2025
3 min read

Gene editing explored to help endangered species

Gene editing techniques, similar to those used in agriculture and de-extinction projects, could be repurposed to help save endangered species. A team of international scientists is hailing it as a transformative solution to restore genetic diversity and save animals from the brink of extinction.

In a new Nature Reviews Biodiversity Perspective article published on 18^th July, the authors look into the promises, challenges, and ethical considerations of gene editing, proposing an approach for its use in conservation. They argue that it could recover lost genetic diversity in species at a risk of extinction, using historical genetic samples including DNA from museum collections, biobanks, and even related species.

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The multidisciplinary team of conservation geneticists and biotechnologists is co-led by Prof Cock van Oosterhout at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and Dr Stephen Turner from Colossal Biosciences, in collaboration with the Colossal Foundation, the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (University of Kent), Globe Institute (University of Copenhagen), Mauritius Wildlife Foundation (MWF), the Mauritius National Parks and Conservation Service (NPCS), and Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.

“We’re facing the fastest environmental change in Earth’s history, and many species have lost the genetic variation needed to adapt and survive,” said Prof van Oosterhout. “Gene engineering provides a way to restore that variation, whether it’s reintroducing DNA variation that has been lost from immune-system genes that we can retrieve from museum specimens or borrowing climate-tolerance genes from closely related species. To ensure the long-term survival of threatened species, we argue that it is essential to embrace new technological advances alongside traditional conservation approaches.”

Conservation work, including captive breeding and habitat protection focus on increasing population numbers. But they cannot replenish lost genetic variants when the numbers of a species plummet. Gene editing may be the solution for this.

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