Resurrecting Extinct Species with Colossal's Ben Lamm

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Hot off last week’s episode about helping extend human life, this episode is about how to bring certain long-gone animals back to life. This week, Ben Lamm (Founder & CEO of Colossal Biosciences) joins The Deep End. Colossal describes itself as a genetic engineering company interested in extinct species restoration through radically new genomic technologies.

They have landed a ton of press and attention for their ambitious goal to resurrect a woolly mammoth in the next few years by sequencing the genome of mammoths and editing genes of their closest living relatives - the Asian elephant. 

We spend a little time on the hard science of this and discuss how closely this resurrected proxy would be related to the original mammoth. But we also discuss the why, the when, and the bioethics. 

Ben is quick to say that there’s no silver bullet for climate change or ecosystem restoration. Still, there is a strong conservationist argument for at least learning how we could create genetic backups for species. The arctic tundra could also potentially see its grasslands return if large animals like the mammoth return to their ancestral home to eat the overgrown bushes and trees.

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