In a new book, Frankenstein's Cat, author Emily Anthes makes the provocative argument that cloning and genetic engineering could be used as tools to help bring back endangered species and perhaps even to resurrect extinct animals.
She is careful to note, however, that while the technology is potentially promising -- and could help endangered species like Atlantic sturgeon in the Chesapeake Bay -- the problem of extinction is much more complex than simply a lack of reproduction. Destruction of habitat, excessive hunting and fishing, and pollution are all problems that must be solved by government action and public policy, not simply with a "technofix" concocted in a laboratory.
