The reason that we can even discuss the idea of bringing a wooly mammoth back to life is because of CRISPR. CRISPR technology allows researchers to edit genes. This technology works because the protein Cas9 is an enzyme that can basically be used as scissors to cut out strands of DNA (Vidyasagar, 2018). In one article I read, the reason that it could be helpful to bring back the wooly mammoth is because it lived on the Siberian Steppe, which is a place that is covered in ice. But, as climate change alters the average temperatures, it has become warmer and the ice is starting to melt there. That is a problem because there is a vast amount of Carbon dioxide contained within the ice. So, if it is released, it would cause even more environmental issues. Researchers introduced animals that had been hunted off the Siberian Steppe back and saw that it significantly slowed the melting of the ice because the herbivores promote the growth of a type of grass that reflects light (Worrall, 2017). I think that one of the disadvantages to doing this would be that this has never been done before. It is hard to know what the outcome may be, good or bad. Also, the wooly mammoth tusks are extremely lucrative, so protecting them from poachers would be difficult. This would also be a hybrid with the Asian elephant, so it would not be just a Wooly Mammoth. Another reason it may be difficult to reintroduce them is that the environment is different than when they were not extinct, which might cause issues for their survival if it is not optimal for them. And finally, if we do that for the wooly mammoths, there could be a problem of reintroducing species that are no longer key in the ecosystem because they have been extinct for so long. I think that this could be a viable way to reintroduce recently extinct species that were affected by human interaction. But I think that bringing back species that have long since been extinct could pose threats to the current ecosystems.
Vidyasagar, A. (2018). What is CRISPR?
Worrall, S. (2017). We Could Resurrect the Wooly Mammoth. Here’s How.