November/December 2026 high school LD topic: de-extinction

The November/December high school Lincoln-Douglas resolution

This is the NSDA’s 2026 November/December high school Lincoln-Douglas topic.

1. NSDA official topics

   Source for the exact high school resolution.

Key Definitions

• De-extinction: distinguish creating a proxy for an extinct species from conserving a species that still exists. Which techniques and outcomes does the rez cover?
• Unethical: establish the moral standard you defend. How should animal welfare, ecological responsibility and duties to existing species be weighed?
• Scope: does the rez concern the practice generally, a particular project or every possible application?
• Moral versus technical claims: does showing that de-extinction is possible make it ethically permissible? What else would the neg need to prove?

1. IUCN SSC: Guiding Principles on Creating Proxies of Extinct Species (2016)

   Background on extinct-species proxies, conservation goals and risks relevant to both sides.

Affirmative research: de-extinction is unethical

Investigate these claims as starting points for your research.

• What harms could cloning, surrogate pregnancy and reintroduction cause to animals? What duties do we owe them?
• Could funding, habitat and attention do more for species that are still alive?
• What ecological risks could revived species create? How should those risks and responsibility for introduced organisms be weighed?

1. Spending limited resources on de-extinction could lead to net biodiversity loss (2017)

   Models how de-extinction funding could divert resources from living species (free abstract).

2. Won’t Somebody Please Think of the Mammoths? De-extinction and Animal Welfare (2018)

   Examines cloning and reintroduction risks to animal welfare (free author preprint).

3. De-scenting Extinction: The Promise of De-extinction May Hasten Continuing Extinctions (2017)

   Argues promises of reversing extinction could weaken conservation values and urgency.

4. Is it right to reverse extinction? (2014)

   Questions de-extinction through ethics and technological hubris (full text may require a subscription).

5. De-extinction: Costs, benefits and ethics (2017)

   Weighs de-extinction’s conservation costs and ethics (full text requires a subscription).

6. De-Extinction at a Crossroads: Ecology, Ethics, and the Future of Conservation in the Biotech Age (2025)

   Examines ecological, welfare and governance risks while calling for careful assessment of proposed projects.

Negative research: challenge the ethical objection

• Could a carefully selected project restore a lost ecological function or assist broader conservation work?
• Do humans have a responsibility to repair extinctions they caused, and what limits should that responsibility have?
• Which animal-welfare safeguards, habitat conditions and funding arrangements would answer the aff? Are they achievable, and how would we verify they work?

1. Philosophy and ethics of de-extinction (2023)

   Argues de-extinction can be morally permissible when restoration benefits outweigh competing concerns.

2. The ethics of reviving long extinct species (2014)

   Defends ethical acceptability when ecological and welfare concerns are addressed (free abstract).

3. De-Extinction (2018)

   Explores potential ecological restoration benefits of carefully chosen de-extinction projects.

4. Is De-extinction Special? (2017)

   Questions whether de-extinction is ethically different from other genetic modifications.

5. De-extinction and the risk of moral hazard (2026)

   Finds no evidence that de-extinction promises increased acceptance of species loss in the scenarios tested.

6. IUCN SSC Guiding Principles on Creating Proxies of Extinct Species for Conservation Benefit (2016)

   Sets out conditions for evaluating extinct-species proxies as conservation tools.

Turn the research into evidence

Read up on past literature and concurrent updates. Connect the scientific evidence to the ethical framework you plan to defend.

• Try “de-extinction animal welfare surrogate ethics”.
• Try “de-extinction conservation opportunity costs biodiversity”.
• Try “ecological restoration extinct species proxies moral responsibility”.

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