Meanwhile: Icarus and the ethics of reviving the extinct

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Meanwhile: Icarus and the ethics of reviving the extinct

Published: 14 Apr. 2025, 00:05

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Kim Seung-jung

The author is an archaeologist and professor at the University of Toronto.

In a development that sounds like it belongs in a fantasy epic, Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi are not fictional characters from Game of Thrones, but the names of recently “created” dire wolf pups. A company claims to have “brought back” these creatures, thought to have gone extinct 13,000 years ago, using genetic material extracted from ice age fossils and merged with the DNA of modern wolves.

The claim, if true, would be a scientific marvel, with some drawing comparisons to “Jurassic Park” (1993). Supporters argue such capability could pave the way to restoring endangered species and rehabilitating damaged ecosystems. The technology could help counter biodiversity loss by reintroducing long-lost predators into modern environments.

Yet the claim has also sparked concern. Some scientists view the attempt at “resurrection” less as a tool for ecological restoration and more as an act of scientific vanity. Critics warn that reanimated predators could destabilize present ecosystems or introduce unforeseen diseases. The central question remains: Should we create new life-forms simply because we can?

This debate lies squarely in the realm of ethics. Technological ability alone does not resolve the moral dimensions of manipulating nature on such a scale.

Genetically modified wolf pups Romulus and Remus, two of three successfully bred by reconstructing a genome from the ancient DNA of fossils from the dire wolf that had been extinct for over 12,500 years by Colossal Biosciences, billed as ″the world’s only de-extinction company″, are seen a month after their October 1, 2024 birth in north Texas, U.S. Colossal Biosciences. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

In Greek mythology, similar tensions played out in the blurred boundaries between ambition and restraint. Daedalus, often called the genius of creation, was the architect of the famed labyrinth — a maze designed to confine the monstrous Minotaur. Yet Daedalus was also responsible for the Minotaur’s birth, having built a wooden cow that enabled Queen Pasiphae to fulfill her unnatural desire for a sacred bull.

Daedalus was a bridge between imagination and reality, a craftsman who gave physical form to myth. Today, scientists play a similar role, standing at the edge of possibility. Like Icarus, who flew on wings of wax and feathers made by his father Daedalus, we are soaring high, perhaps too close to the sun. Icarus’s fall, when the wax melted, was a cautionary tale about hubris — overstepping natural boundaries reserved for the divine.

In classical Greek, hubris meant transgressing into realms meant for the gods — violating the natural order. Are we attempting to do the same? Or are we trying to make amends for damage humanity has inflicted on the planet?

These are questions that science alone cannot answer.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.