Conservation Breeding in the Age of Mass Extinction: Ethics, Reproduction, and Emerging Biotechnologies
A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Ecology and Conservation".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026
Special Issue Editor
Interests: herpetology; assisted reproductive technologies; endocrinology; cryobiology; biobanking; evolutionary ecology; sustainable management; conservation breeding programs; biodiversity; space colonisation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In this Special Issue, we will discuss the ethics and evolution of biodiversity conservation, its current state and future potential, and contemporary social, cultural, and geopolitical influences. Mass extinction is a consequence of terraforming Earth, where every ecosystem is subject to anthropogenic destruction or modification. Unprecedented and accelerating environmental changes can be partially addressed through field activities, but to prevent mass extinction, critically endangered species need to be managed using all available options. Environmental Intergenerational Justice provides an ethical foundation for biodiversity conservation, including habitat protection, conservation breeding programs, and reproductive biotechnologies. Integrated reproduction and advanced biotechnologies support repopulation projects and conservation breeding programs. Species and ecosystem management can also benefit from species restoration using cellular bio-materials in biobanks or de-extinction using sub-fossil DNA. In addition to providing for these species, biotechnologies have been developed for biodiversity in tandem with contributors to human well-being, such as solutions to genetic disorders, population management and reproductive rights, and extending humanity and the biosphere into space.
Dr. Robert K. Browne
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- biodiversity
- conservation
- conservation breeding
- reproductive biotechnologies
- biobanking
- environmental changes
- ecosystem destruction
- anthropogenic impact
- species extinction
- endangered species
- habitat protection
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