Nature -> Petroleum -> Refinery -> Power Plant -> Simulation -> R&D -> Production -> Testing -> Drug
is significantly less efficient than:
Nature -> Testing -> Drug
The argument is that we could likely be advancing biotech industries at an even faster rate.
The time energy that goes into designing something is valuable, and we lose access to that once we lose access to that species.
Put in Douglas Adams terms: "If you try to take a apart a cat to find out how it works, the first thing you have on your hands is a non-working cat."
