Last year, a San Francisco biotech startup came up with 3D print fake rhino horns that carry the same genetic fingerprint as the actual horn.
The plan behind the fake rhino horns is to flood the Chinese market with the cheap horns to curb down poaching.
Pembient, based in San Francisco uses keratin — a type of fibrous protein — and rhino DNA to produce a dried powder which is then 3D printed into synthetic rhino horns which is genetically and spectrographically similar to original rhino horns.
Matthew Markus, CEO of Pembient said that his company would sell rhino horns at one-eighth of the price of the original, undercutting the price poachers can get and forcing them out eventually.
“We can produce a rhinoceros horn product that is actually more pure than what you can get from a wild animal. Rhino horn in the lab is as pure as that of a rhino of 2,000 years ago” said Markus.
Conservationists however, are skeptical about the success of synthetic horn and claimed that it may actually have harmful long term effects in combating the illicit trade.
According to Susie Ellis, Executive director of International Rhino Foundation, selling synthetic horn is not guaranteed to reduce the demand for rhino horn and could lead to more poaching due to an increase in the demand for “the real thing. In addition, production of synthetic horn encourages its purported medicinal value, even though science does not support any medical benefits. (digitaljournal.com)
