Human activity such as industry, travel and deforestation has caused irreparable damage to the environment and even the most conservative estimates state that 15-40% of species alive today will be either extinct or too far gone to save by 2050. An extinction event of this scale has the ability to upset the precarious balance of earth’s ecosystems and cause a ripple effect throughout the whole environment that has unpredictable effects. Current conservation methods are insufficient to prevent this from happening but genetic rescue could. Genetic rescue is a process in which a few individuals from an endangered species are genetically engineered to be resistant to the threats causing their extinction before being released to the wild so these traits can spread throughout the population. Scientists, however, are reluctant to use this technology as ethical and legal guidelines have not been made clear and they are afraid of inadvertently crossing these lines. By creating laws regarding genetic engineering, these guidelines will be clear and scientists can work to save endangered species without having to worry about public backlash. Visit geneticrescue.wixsite.com/rescue for more information.