Do we hold the keys to the next evolution?

We're past midnight when it comes to the environment. We are no longer in a mode to prevent damage, but rather to reduce future devastation. How can we avoid catastrophe? Can we positively influence the way things evolve?

We know that human beings have already influenced ecosystems for good or ill. The problem is that the notion of impact on ecosystems has rarely been taken into account. Introducing bullfrogs seemed like a good idea for eliminating insect pests in Australia. Now, however, the species is attacking other endemic animals, threatening their survival.

Today, scientists are trying to protect the corals, for example, by exposing them to a little heat so that they develop resistance, or by injecting them with microorganisms to protect them from rising water temperatures. For many researchers, it is genetic modification that could help flora and fauna. It would now be easy to create generations of all-male mosquitoes to stop the spread of malaria, or to design super-efficient trees capable of absorbing far more carbon dioxide than normal ones. Genetic scissors technology could lead to more targeted protection of species without the need to poison, cull or introduce other disruptive elements into environments.

Admittedly, there are risks involved, and it will surely be necessary to start on a small scale rather than in nature itself. But, as several of the specialists interviewed in the report point out, doing nothing is tantamount to letting the sixth mass extinction go ahead.

Running time: 30 minutes