The Resurrection Quest

Curious Cases

BBC

Technology, Science

4.8 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 31 January 2023

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

‘Can we bring back extinct species?’ wonders listener Mikko Campbell. Well, Professor Fry is pretty excited by the prospect of woolly mammoths roaming the Siberian tundra once more. And everyone is impressed with the science that might make it happen. But Dr Rutherford comes out STRONGLY against the whole thing. Can our expert guests win him over? Dr Helen Pilcher shares the tale of Celia the lonely mountain goat, and makes the case for cloning to help protect species at risk of extinction. Professor Beth Shapiro sets out how biotech company ‘Colossal’ plans to engineer Asian elephants’ DNA to make a new group of mammoth-like creatures. And we hear how genetic technologies are being used in conservation efforts around the world. BUT WHAT ABOUT T-REXES? Not gonna happen. Sorry. Contributors: Dr Helen Pilcher, author of ‘Bring Back the King: The New Science of De-Extinction’, Professor Beth Shapiro from the University of California Santa Cruz, Dr Ben Novak of Revive and Restore and Tullis Matson from Nature’s SAFE. Presenters: Hannah Fry and Adam Rutherford Producer: Ilan Goodman

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.
0:05.0	Welcome back to Cure's Cases.
0:06.8	Now this is an episode that is number something in your feed, but it's the first one that
0:12.1	I have done of the new year.
0:14.0	And as a result, there are several moments during this recording where one or both of our
0:18.8	brains just ground to an absolute halt.
0:22.8	Yes, you'll see when, with the introduction of a new character, which I think you've
0:28.0	been returning character.
0:30.0	I'm not going to say who it is now, but when it happens, you'll know.
0:34.4	So, yeah, on with the show.
0:37.0	A short but sweet question for today's Cure's case.
0:45.6	Can you bring back an extinct species?
0:48.0	This one sent into us by Mika Campbell to Cure's Cases at BBC.co.uk.
0:52.3	And I reckon this is going to keep us going for a good half an hour, because Adam, this
0:55.7	has got genetics, it's got evolution, it's got ancient DNA.
0:59.4	What do you think?
1:00.4	Can you bring back an extinct species?
1:02.1	Yes, well, my considered view on this is that projects that bring back extinct species
1:07.2	are unethical, unscientific, expensive vanity projects that should be banned or mocked,
1:13.0	probably both.
1:14.0	Okay, so I'll put you down as don't know.
1:16.0	Shall I?
	...

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