Potential Method for De-Extinction
When I was a little kid, I remember reading about how scientists were using gene blocks to express atavistic traits. From what I remember they would block certain genes during embryogenesis (?). This would cause some genes to be expressed and others not to be. It appears if they blocked genes that evolved after a certain point, the newer genes would not be expressed. For example, if a gene that evolved 100,000 years ago is blocked, the ones that evolved since then weren't supposed to be expressed. Some genes that evolve seem to actually cause a genome to be "rearranged." Blocking them might actually cause the genome to "revert" to the earlier configuration and express atavistic genes.
This would appear to be extremely beneficial for de-extinction. We could use it by sequencing extinct animals. We would then sequence other still living animals that are genetically similar. We would then block the gene in the still living animal that evolved right after their LUCA. This would be the proto-animal. We would grow it and sequence it. Then we would see which gene evolved in the extinct animal right after the LUCA. We would change the proto-animal to have this gene. We would keep doing this until we have the same animal that went extinct. It would not be similar, it would be the same.
I think de-extinction is possibly a lot easier than we realize. If there's anyone working on it, please contact me so we could possibly set up a protocol and see if this could work.
Here's an article sent to me by u/nodnarb51 about something similar. It looks liek they used gene blocks to get the talpid phenotype expressed in chickens. Atavisms in the avian hindlimb and early developmental polarity of the limb - PMC
LUCA- Last Universal Common Ancestor