Preprint Review Version 1 This version is not peer-reviewed

The Sixth Mass Extinction and Amphibian Species Sustainability Through Reproduction Biotechnologies, Biobanking, Species Restoration, and Conservation Breeding Programs

Version 1 : Received: 14 September 2024 / Approved: 17 September 2024 / Online: 17 September 2024 (11:33:48 CEST)

How to cite: Browne, R. K.; Lou, Q.; Wang, P.; Mansour, N.; Kaurova, S. A.; Gakhova, E. N.; Shishova, N. V.; Uteshev, V. K.; Kramarova, L. I.; Venu, G.; Bagaturov, M. F.; Vaissi, S.; Heshmatzad, P.; Janzen, P.; Swegen, A.; Strand, J.; McGinnity, D. The Sixth Mass Extinction and Amphibian Species Sustainability Through Reproduction Biotechnologies, Biobanking, Species Restoration, and Conservation Breeding Programs. Preprints 2024, 2024091289. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.1289.v1 Browne, R. K.; Lou, Q.; Wang, P.; Mansour, N.; Kaurova, S. A.; Gakhova, E. N.; Shishova, N. V.; Uteshev, V. K.; Kramarova, L. I.; Venu, G.; Bagaturov, M. F.; Vaissi, S.; Heshmatzad, P.; Janzen, P.; Swegen, A.; Strand, J.; McGinnity, D. The Sixth Mass Extinction and Amphibian Species Sustainability Through Reproduction Biotechnologies, Biobanking, Species Restoration, and Conservation Breeding Programs. Preprints 2024, 2024091289. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.1289.v1

Abstract

Primary themes in intergenerational justice are a healthy environment, the perpetuation of Earth’s biodiversity, and the sustainable management of the biosphere. However, the current rate of species declines globally, ecosystem collapses driven by accelerating and catastrophic global heating and a plethora of other threats, preclude the ability of habitat protection alone to prevent a cascade of amphibian and other species mass extinctions. Reproduction biotechnologies, biobanking, and conservation breeding programs (RBCs), enabling species restoration, offer a critical transformative change that can economically and reliably perpetuate species irrespective of environmental targets. These capacities extend indefinitely into the future and satisfy humanities needs as the biosphere expands into space. Currently applied RBCs include the hormonal stimulation of reproduction, the collection and refrigerated storage of sperm and oocytes, sperm cryopreservation, in vitro fertilisation, along biobanking. Advanced biotechnologies such as assisted evolution and cloning for species adaptation or restoration have yet to be fully realised. We broaden our discussion to include genetic management, broad political and cultural engagement, and future applications. The development and application of RBCs, and particularly assisted evolution and species restoration, raise intriguing ethical, theological, and philosophical issues. We address these themes with amphibian models to introduce the MDPI Special Issue, The Sixth Mass Extinction and Species Sustainability through Reproduction Biotechnologies, Biobanking, and Conservation Breeding Programs.

Keywords

Mass extinction; COP 15; COP 28; reproduction technologies; intergenerational justice; de-extinction; climate catastrophe; assisted evolution; terraforming; space colonisation

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Life Sciences

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