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I think this post does not deserve to be down voted. Objectively, making them pet is a viable commercial approach.

LeifCarrotson 10y ago
And viable commerical approaches are enormously more likely to work than forced efforts, in environmental and many other fields.
Falling3 10y ago
Well sure, but that prioritizes the "well-being" of the species at the expense of the individuals that make it up - a mindset I've never understood.
partycoder 10y ago
Only if they can be domesticated (breed in captivity, eat generic food, tame).
comex 10y ago
I'm not sure about that. Unlike GMO crops, you (probably) can't patent the dodo… so after a company spends a large amount of money upfront on genetic engineering, as soon as the first batch of birds goes out, anyone can start breeding them and undercut them on price. Maybe they could find something in their specific breed of not-actually-a-dodo that's patentable. Or they could only distribute one sex of bird to the public, at least initially.
- jeff_petersen 10y ago
  > you (probably) can't patent the dodo You definitely can't patent a corgi, but they're still quite expensive. Considering that dodo breeding is probably nontrivial, they could potentially make a profit. Depends on how the genetic engineering is funded, I suppose, and how well the work they do on the dodo applies to other animals. (If it's too dodo-specific it might not be worth it, but if work can be reused then it makes their next extinct pet even more profitable per unit)
- Retric 10y ago
  That's non trivial if you sterilize before sale. Also, if it's a fad then having a X year head start before sale means you can ramp up much faster than any competitors.
  - patall 10y ago
    But there is also a nontrivial difference between having living stem cells then and having 100+ year dead feathers now. Plus, Dodos would possible be breeded by transplanting stem cells into eggs which you might be able to ramp up quite easily.

And viable commerical approaches are enormously more likely to work than forced efforts, in environmental and many other fields.

Falling3 10y ago

Well sure, but that prioritizes the "well-being" of the species at the expense of the individuals that make it up - a mindset I've never understood.

partycoder 10y ago

Only if they can be domesticated (breed in captivity, eat generic food, tame).

comex 10y ago

I'm not sure about that. Unlike GMO crops, you (probably) can't patent the dodo… so after a company spends a large amount of money upfront on genetic engineering, as soon as the first batch of birds goes out, anyone can start breeding them and undercut them on price. Maybe they could find something in their specific breed of not-actually-a-dodo that's patentable. Or they could only distribute one sex of bird to the public, at least initially.

jeff_petersen 10y ago
> you (probably) can't patent the dodo You definitely can't patent a corgi, but they're still quite expensive. Considering that dodo breeding is probably nontrivial, they could potentially make a profit. Depends on how the genetic engineering is funded, I suppose, and how well the work they do on the dodo applies to other animals. (If it's too dodo-specific it might not be worth it, but if work can be reused then it makes their next extinct pet even more profitable per unit)
Retric 10y ago
That's non trivial if you sterilize before sale. Also, if it's a fad then having a X year head start before sale means you can ramp up much faster than any competitors.
- patall 10y ago
  But there is also a nontrivial difference between having living stem cells then and having 100+ year dead feathers now. Plus, Dodos would possible be breeded by transplanting stem cells into eggs which you might be able to ramp up quite easily.