Deliberate extinction by genome modification: An ethical challenge

Science. 2025 May 15;388(6748):707-709. doi: 10.1126/science.adv4045. Epub 2025 May 15.

¹ The Hastings Center, Garrison, NY, USA.
² School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
³ Genetic Engineering and Society Center, North Carolina State University (NCSU), Raleigh, NC, USA.
⁴ Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Brisbane, Australia.
⁵ Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Great Zimbabwe University, Masvingo, Zimbabwe.
⁶ Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay.
⁷ Center for Humans and Nature, Libertyville, IL, USA.
⁸ Aldo Leopold Foundation, Baraboo, WI, USA.
⁹ Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Philosophy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
¹¹ Department of Philosophy, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA.
¹² Archipelago Consulting, Portland, ME, USA.
¹³ Oregon Institute of Technology, Wilsonville, OR, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Philosophy, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, NCSU, Raleigh, NC, USA.
¹⁶ Native Nations Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
¹⁷ Divinity School, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.

Abstract

What circumstances might justify deliberate, full extinction of a species?