Saplakoglu, Y. (2018, May 15). Could Reviving Woolly-Mammoth Genes Fight the Effects of Global Warming? Retrieved from https://www.livescience.com/62569-mammoth-elephant-hybrid-help-climate.html

Some researchers are considering taking certain genes from preserved mammoth DNA that allowed the mammoths to tolerate the cold weather, and creating an Asian elephant-mammoth hybrid that will also be able to tolerate cold weather. This would be done so that elephants can live in cold northern regions and “once there, the genetically tweaked elephants would topple trees that keep the area warm in the winter, thereby restoring a more climate-friendly ecosystem.” Basically, introducing elephants into colder northern regions could keep the regions colder, and scientists hope this could help mitigate some of the effects of human-driven climate change.

While the idea seems a little far-fetched and perhaps even impractical, it is yet another example of humans using genetic bioengineering to alter a species and an ecosystem. Although, this pursuit has much larger implications. The scientists hope that genetically altering Asian elephants will mitigate some of the effects of climate change, and so we are not only affecting a species and a single ecosystem, but the entire world’s climate. In this case, genetic engineering is being investigated to help solve one of the Earth’s biggest environmental problems.