

Back from the dead: Exploring the cutting edge of de-extinction
May 18, 2023
49:00
At the beginning of the year, the company behind the public effort to de-extinct the wooly mammoth announced it will also be de-extincting the dodo. The announcement stirred up a lot of excitement and questions about whether we can – or should – bring back species once they’re gone.
So this hour we're talking about de-extinction! We’ll hear about what it takes to bring back extinct animals, efforts to build a safety net for plants that might go extinct in the future, and walk through some fun de-extinction thought experiments.
GUESTS:
- Helen Pilcher: a science and comedy writer with a PhD in cell biology who wrote Bring Back the King: The New Science of De-extinction
- Ben Lamm: CEO of the de-extinction company Colossal, which he co-founded with George Church.
- Carlos de la Rosa: President and CEO of the Center for Plant Conservation
Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.
Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.