Humans have been selectively breeding animals for millennia. If we can help species survive by tweaking their DNA in a lab, I say bring it on
Do you think we should genetically modify wildlife? What if we could make seabirds resistant to the flu that has been exterminating them en masse, just by tweaking their DNA a smidgen? Or make fish that can shrug off pollution, or coral that can survive warming waters? Engineer in the sorts of change that could occur naturally, given enough time, if only the wildlife would stop dying already.
Thanks to newly emerging methods, such as Crispr, these feats are within reach. Recently, conservationists met at the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) 2025 World Conservation Congress where they debated GM wildlife and voted on a proposed moratorium that would stymie their release into the wild. Ahead of the meeting, a group of more than 90 NGOs issued a press release urging the IUCN to “say no to engineered wild species.” But humans have been altering the DNA of other species for millennia.
Helen Pilcher is a science writer and the author of Bring Back the King: The New Science of De-Extinction
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
10/23/2025 - 07:15
10/23/2025 - 05:00
Former European officers say spending on low-carbon power would make nations more resilient to threats from potential aggressors
Investment in renewable energy should be counted under defence expenditure, says a group of retired senior military personnel, because the climate crisis represents a threat to national security.
They have called for increased spending on low-carbon power as a way of making the UK and other European countries more resilient to threats from Russia and other potential aggressors.
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10/23/2025 - 03:44
Environment Agency rates eight of nine companies as poor and needing improvement
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England’s water company ratings have fallen to the lowest level on record after sewage pollution last year hit a new peak, with eight of nine water companies rated as poor and needing improvement by the Environment Agency.
The cumulative score of only 19 stars out of a possible 36 is the lowest since the regulator began auditing the companies using the star rating system in 2011.
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10/23/2025 - 00:04
The migration of Christmas Island’s red crabs is in full swing, with roads closed in some places to protect millions of the crustaceans. Every year, the crabs emerge from the forest to travel to the ocean to breed, creating a red tide across the island. The Christmas Island national park said a massive spawning event will take place around 15 and 16 November, with a second spawning in mid-December
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10/23/2025 - 00:00
From a red-throated loon landing on water, to good and bad hair days and an airborne squirrel, here is a selection of the finalists in this year’s Nikon Comedy Wildlife awards. A winner will be announced on 9 December
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10/22/2025 - 23:00
In 2024, nearly a million hectares of Ukraine’s land burned. Heat, mines and shelling contributed, but footage of drones targeting firefighters has raised the question of war crimes
Natalia Pryprosta was tending to her pigs when fire swept into the village of Studenok, near the city of Izium in eastern Ukraine. There was no time. She grabbed her papers, pulled her elderly mother into a friend’s car, and tried to get the animals out of the shed. Smoke and the speed of the blaze made it impossible. She didn’t see the animals burning, but learned of their fate later.
Smoke smothered Studenok, turning the village as dark as night. Pryprosta’s neighbours fought the flames with shovels, digging in scorched earth to stop the crown fire’s advance. Firefighters arrived, but the blaze was relentless. At one point, it surged around a fire truck, trapping the crew.
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10/22/2025 - 22:40
Sussan Ley’s sharp criticism marks a shift for the opposition, which had appeared open to a deal on the bill
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The Albanese government’s second attempt at rewriting federal environmental protection laws is in jeopardy after the Coalition joined the Greens in criticising the proposed changes, leaving Labor without an obvious partner to get it through the Senate.
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, claimed the nature laws were a “red light” for jobs and a “handbrake” for investment, warning the Coalition would need far more convincing before agreeing to support the plan.
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10/22/2025 - 22:00
Use of wood-burning stoves and fires in homes is mostly unnecessary and their toxic pollution costs the NHS millions
The burning of wood and coal in homes contributes to almost 2,500 deaths a year in the UK, analysis has found. Stopping unnecessary burning would save the NHS more than £54m a year, the experts concluded.
Wood-burning stoves and open fires are one the biggest sources of small pollution particles, which cause heart and lung disease, and their use has risen in recent years. The report also links this toxic air pollution to 3,700 cases of diabetes and 1,500 cases of asthma a year, although the health impacts are likely to be underestimated.
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10/22/2025 - 14:02
US and Qatar say new rules will hinder imports of LNG, posing ‘existential threat’ to European economies
The US has demanded that the European Union roll back its climate and human rights rules in order to allow greater imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), as the Trump administration approved a controversial gas export hub along the Gulf of Mexico coast.
A letter jointly sent by the US and Qatar, two of the three largest LNG exporters in the world, warned the EU that its new rules pose an “existential threat” to European economies as they would hinder imports of gas from countries such as theirs.
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10/22/2025 - 13:53
Exclusive: Promise to remove almost all fossil fuels from UK’s electricity supply by 2030 may be quietly abandoned over cost
Ministers are considering dropping one of their central green pledges in an effort to keep energy bills down, sources have told the Guardian.
Government insiders say Keir Starmer is prepared to miss his own target of removing almost all fossil fuels from the UK’s electricity supply by 2030 if doing so proves much more expensive than building gas power instead.
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