The United Nations has warned that about a million animal and plant species are at risk of extinction. In response, conservation breeding programs are ramping up to boost and protect populations.

The problem is that while conservation breeding can prevent extinction, it doesn’t allow threatened species to survive in the wild in the face of these difficult to mitigate threats.

This is where Targeted Genetic Intervention (TGI) comes in.

TGI works by adapting methods that are successfully used in agriculture and medicine in which an individual’s genetics are tweaked in ways that, when passed on to the wider population through breeding, can change the traits of a species to improve its survival.

Two of the most promising approaches in this toolkit include artificial selection and synthetic biology.

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While these methods frequently figure in science fiction and are sometimes feared for their unintended consequences, the real science of synthetic biology is gaining traction in the conservation community due to its many benefits.

Additionally, a recent public opinion survey conducted by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) indicates that the public are moderately-to-strongly supportive of use of synthetic biology approaches for conservation.

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