Furry Scientists

George Church has hypothesized the positive effects of bringing back the extinct woolly mammoth would have on the environment, such as the potential for reversing some of the damage caused by global warming.[29] He and his fellow researchers predict that mammoths would eat the dead grass allowing the sun to reach the spring grass; their weight would allow them to break through dense, insulating snow in order to let cold air reach the soil; and their characteristic of felling trees would increase the absorption of sunlight.[29] In an editorial condemning de-extinction, Scientific American pointed out that the technologies involved could have secondary applications, specifically to help species on the verge of extinction regain their genetic diversity.[30]

~ from the Wikipedia article on De-Extinction

Also, simply doing what you've never done before (within ethics, of course) is usually worth doing; the benefits show up eventually. Cases in point: atomic theory, lasers, the photoelectric effect.

The research path to practical results can often be convoluted or outright stupid, too: The discovery of graphene came from a long chain that started with levitating frogs with magnets.