Some fear the mass production of endangered species could compete with global efforts to preserve those animals' habitats or lead to the creation of herds and flocks that lack the genetic diversity so important to a species' survival. The more radical prospect of bringing back extinct animals raises even more profound questions. Mr Lanza and his colleagues are avid supporters of environmental preservation and have qualms about using cloning to reach too far back in time. But they and other wildlife scientists say that, at a minimum, conservationists ought to be freezing clonable cells from all species as an insurance against a bio-impoverished future. And they says people should start thinking about the pros and cons of sharing the planet with some replicated wildlife.
Critics argue that cloning is contrary to true conservation.
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