Today, Christy Climenhage tells me why, while we might be able to do a thing, that does not mean we should do the thing. More importantly, how “the consequences of certain technologies can long outlast the people who invent them.”
Of Dire Wolves, Heirloom Wolves, and Tentacles
When news broke a few weeks ago about extinct dire wolves being resurrected by a biotech start-up with some very cool genetic engineering science, I was not delighted. I did not happily envision a way to bring back lost species and otherwise re-populate our ecosystems under threat. I did not see a way we could now stop trying to save ecosystems and threatened species because we can just bank their DNA now, no harm no foul. I did not see “all the potential” in the newfangled gadgetry of bringing back the dead from fossils a la Jurassic Park. When I set out to write The Midnight Project, a science fiction thriller that explores genetic engineering gone wrong in a near-future when global agriculture is collapsing and ecosystems dying, I did my research. My book is intended to be a cautionary tale. For folks in the back, this means: Do Not Do This, It Is Bad. Like, Capital B Bad.
Let me explain. By combining a few strands of genetic code salvaged from a fossil with a modern wolf, they have not, in fact, resurrected a dire wolf. They have created a new hybrid wolf. So nothing has actually been saved or resurrected. Something new has been created. In The Midnight Project, there are many genetically engineered hybrids. The hoppers, for example, are a hybrid that combines human, frog, and predator, and let me tell you, it does not go well for the hoppers or the communities they live in. Creating hybrids and introducing them into ecosystems that have not evolved to support them, is incredibly risky. What happens when they release the cute little dire wolf-hybrids into a national park? They might out-compete the existing wolf population (threatening their survival), or interbreed with them (destroying their unique genetic makeup), and then over-consume whatever they prey on (threatening those species), because they’re genetically inclined to eat woolly mammoths and we don’t have those anymore. There is a scenario where a hybrid dire-style wolf and an “heirloom” wolf both exist at once.
It’s easy to see where scientists may have very good intentions in this. The Midnight Project scientists certainly do–they want to save humanity by genetically altering humans to live in the ocean depths and escape the bee catastrophe on land. But good intentions are only intentions, and the consequences of certain technologies can long outlast the people who invent them. At least in my pre-apocalyptic near-future, there have been a few decades for the law, regulations and ethics on genetic engineering to evolve. The commodification of science is still horrifying but there are more guardrails than we have today. This does not, in fact, prevent our heroes from getting into trouble. But it wouldn’t be a good story without some trouble, would it? Of course, in The Midnight Project, there are no wolves, but there are lots of tentacles.
So, to summarize:
- Inventing brand-new species by combining genetic code from an extinct animal with existing animals is A Very Bad Idea.
- Protecting ecosystems and our own existing “heirloom” species is a Very Good Idea.
- If any of this is interesting to you, you might enjoy the story of Raina and Cedric, two disgraced genetic engineers who find themselves facing a lot of similar ethical dilemmas along with tentacles, lots of tentacles.
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Christy Climenhage was born in southern Ontario, Canada, and currently lives in a forest north of Ottawa. In between, she has lived on four continents. She holds a PhD from Cambridge University in Political and Social Sciences, and Masters’ degrees from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University (International Political Economy) and the College of Europe (European Politics and Administration). She loves writing science fiction that pushes the boundaries of our current society, politics and technology. When she is not writing, you can find her walking her dogs, hiking or cross-country skiing.
