Review by Booklist Review
Extinction might not be forever! From DNA that has survived in preserved specimens or vials of frozen blood, scientists may be able to propagate extinct species. Dinosaurs will probably not be included. Science journalist Kornfeldt here recounts his world travels to visit scientists working to repopulate wild places with mammoths, passenger pigeons, Pyrenean ibex, northern white rhinoceros, missing corals, and other extinct, or virtually extinct, species. Each project faces unique problems related to extracting and shaping DNA and then implanting it into hosts. Ethical questions also loom over the work. Will the new individuals be truly restored species in their pure form, genetically modified related species, or new creations? Will they know instinctively how to behave in their former homelands? Will they save or destroy their habitats? Who will decide a species' fate? Free of most scientific jargon, Kornfeldt's book is an eye-opening introduction to an important new field of study that's well fit for public library audiences.--Rick Roche Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Amid the Earth's sixth mass extinction, a handful of individuals are working to bring lost species back to life, as Kornfeldt, a Swedish journalist, reports in this intriguing but superficial account. Kornfeldt interviews researchers intent on recreating mammoths and passenger pigeons, saving the northern white rhino, and reintroducing chestnut trees to North America, but in each case, she presents only a thin veneer of information. Her coverage of Sergey and Nikita Zimov, a Russian father and son team working to restore not just an individual species, but the entire Siberian steppe, proves the most rewarding and consequential. The Zimovs explain that, as the ecosystem has changed, largely because of the demise of large herbivores, the permafrost has begun to melt-and unless action is taken, by the end of the century, the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere from the once frozen ground may "correspond to about a tenth of the total yearly anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases." Originally published in Sweden in 2016, the book has undergone little updating despite dealing with a rapidly changing scientific field. Those looking for insight into the mechanics of cutting-edge science, or a deeper investigation of the philosophical underpinnings of the de-extinction movement, will likely be disappointed. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A survey of cutting-edge research projects designed to resurrect extinct species.Swedish science journalist Kornfeldt knows what everyone thinks when they learn that it may be possible to bring ancient animals back to life using edited DNA: Can scientists bring back dinosaurs? Perhaps not so astonishingly in this age of hyperspeed scientific progress, there are people working on it, including the real-life paleontologist who consulted on all of the Jurassic Park movies and whose dinosaur resurrection project is funded by George Lucas. However, as the author ably shows in her first book, dinosaurs aren't the whole story. Kornfeldt chronicles her many journeys around the world to meet the many researchers who have dedicated their careers to bringing back the dead. From passenger pigeons to wooly mammoths to the Pyrenean ibex, extinct animals (and some plants, too) inspire passion in a certain type of scientist, especially those with access to new DNA extraction and gene-editing techniques. In clear prose absent of jargon, the author relates the challenges and triumphs of the offbeat characters who peer into the genetic material of beings who expired tens of thousands of years ago and work to re-create it. Kornfeldt is excellent at presenting such scenarios with a wary enthusiasm, acknowledging the significant "potential and risks of de-extinction." She also notes that such researchhowever magnificent the stakesmay be met with a mixed response from the public when the born-again species are genetically modified organisms and, probably, out of human control once reintroduced in the wild. As she writes, "it remains to be seen how resurrecting a species would work in practice." The author's careful synthesis of accomplishment versus aspiration is also spot-oneven world-class scientists will be dreamers, and there is much more research to be conducted before mammoths once again lumber across the tundra.Wondrous tales of futuristic science experiments that happen to be true. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
