[derryrover]

I think you are right on a moral level. But on a pragmatic level these genetic projects are perhaps promising also for conserving existing species. Conserving a species in the traditional way, by conserving it's ecosystem, is costly and often failed. Especially if the ecosystem in question is competing with farmland, cities or heavily impacted by global warming and pollution. Storing some DNA is cheap and will get cheaper. Doing tricks with this DNA will also get cheaper if we do it more often. I know it is unrealistic to think we can restore an entire ecosystem from a jar of DNA, but we can maybe repair a damaged ecosystem this way. We may also be able to keep small populations, normally impacted by inbreeding, more genetically diverse. This may be our chance to domesticate and protect what is left of the biodiversity on earth.