A second resurrection? Or you mean freezing bodies like in the Austin Powers movie? It’s a bit more complicated than the British movie spy’s cryogenic chamber. It’s about an ongoing project to bring back the extinct passenger pigeon.

You mean the ones that carry secret messages? Those are carrier pigeons, the domesticated and still-living cousins of passenger pigeons.

So why are we discussing a dead bird? Because this Monday marked the 100th anniversary of the extinction of the species. The very last passenger pigeon, Martha, died in the Cincinnati Zoo in the US, on September 1, 1914.

And the world mourned? The zoo renovated a memorial and held lectures in Martha’s honour.

We don’t usually mourn the passing away of dinosaurs… Well, the pigeon is different. What had been the world’s most abundant bird for centuries became extinct within decades, almost entirely because of unchecked hunting in North America for its meat, and large-scale deforestation of its natural habitats.

What about bringing it back? The Great Passenger Pigeon Comeback is a first-of-its-kind attempt to revive a dead species. Headed by the non-profit, The Long Now Foundation, the project, says its Website, will “revive an extinct animal using its museum-specimen DNA.” Once it succeeds, “the techniques will be applicable to hundreds of other extinct species.”

Why exactly did they pick the pigeon? The organisation believes this pigeon is a model species for the de-extinction trial. It’s challenging and practical, with sufficient specimens and a “recorded history to establish a great understanding of the species’ past.”

How long will it take to bring them back to us? For now, the project has a 15-year deadline with specific targets to meet every four to five years, from sequencing DNA to finally generating the live specimen. The plan is to extract DNA fragments from preserved passenger pigeons, create a clone in a lab and then use band-tailed pigeons, their closest relatives, as surrogate parents. These new passengers will then be bred in captivity and, hopefully, released back into the wild.

Sounds simple! Honestly, biotechnology seems to be the easier part. The real challenge starts once the new pigeons are created. A lab-produced pigeon with no parents will have no inkling of how exactly their ancient cousins behaved. Also, these birds require huge numbers to survive. They cannot grow in isolation. Mating clones with the same DNA will create problems related to genetic in-breeding.

Plus, it all sounds a bit like Jurassic Park…and that movie didn’t end well Exactly. Resurrecting the passenger pigeon may chip away at our guilt over killing them off. The more important lesson for humans, however, is that extinction is permanent and cannot be reversed. A successful de-extinction project may affect future conservation projects.

We may no longer care for how irresponsible human behaviour affects the rest of life. Or investigate, for instance, why hundreds of thousands of fish have been regularly washing up dead in Lake Cajititlan in Mexico over recent months. Like the pigeons, the fish are dying in great masses but no one knows why.

But why bother, when biotech is there? It’s not quite there yet. Stewart Brand, who runs the passenger pigeon project, said that he hoped to bring back the woolly mammoth in his lifetime. Brand is 75.

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