New Zealand could save humanity from extinction in the event of a catastrophic global extinction-level pandemic, researchers have found.

The researchers, from the University of Otago's Wellington campus and Adapt Research, have ranked 20 island nations which could act as a 'lifeboat' for refugees, based on their population, location, resources and society.

The results, published in the international journal Risk Analysis, showed New Zealand as the second-best country from which large-scale technological society could be rebuilt - just behind our neighbour, Australia.

The lead author of the study, Dr Matt Boyd, research director at Adapt Research, says humans could unleash a modified organism with the potential to kill all of humankind.

"The worst-case scenario could see multiple genetically engineered pandemic organisms being released at once," he says.

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"We need to be ready for these situations. Our study shows that certain island nations have the characteristics needed to preserve technological culture through a catastrophic event."

One of the co-authors, Professor Nick Wilson, from the University of Otago, Wellington, says the risk of human extinction has probably never been higher.

"Discoveries in biotechnology could see a genetically-engineered pandemic threaten the survival of our species," he says.

"Though carriers of disease can easily circumvent land borders, a closed self-sufficient island could harbour an isolated, technologically-adept population that could repopulate the earth following a disaster."

The researchers say that for such a strategy to succeed, preparations must be made ahead of time. They suggest that New Zealand consider investing in resiliency measures and rehearse the rapid introduction of border controls.

Previous research by the same authors has shown border closure to be a cost-effective measure in major pandemic situations, where thousands of New Zealanders could potentially die, such as in a repeat of the 1918 flu pandemic.

Professor Wilson says New Zealand could also collaborate on planning with other island nations that are most likely to be able to survive a pandemic threat, such as Australia.

"Resiliency planning could also take account of other threats, such as a nuclear war in the northern hemisphere, which New Zealand is also relatively well-positioned to survive."