ancient dna

Scientists are hard at work trying to bring back woolly mammoths (and dodos). But should they? And what would they actually be bringing back? For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a leading expert on paleogenomics, Beth Shapiro has been hearing the same question ever since she started working on ancient DNA: "The only question that we consistently were asked was, how close are we to bringing a mammoth back to life?"

In the second part of our conversation (listen to yesterday's episode), Beth tells Short Wave co-host Aaron Scott that actually cloning a mammoth is probably not going to happen.

"But there are technologies that will allow us to resurrect extinct traits, to move bits and pieces of genes that might be adapted to a large animal like an elephant living in the Arctic."

That is what companies like Colossal Biosciences and Revive and Restore are trying to do, with Beth's help. And she is leading the effort on another iconic extinct species, the dodo.

In today's episode, how Beth Shapiro's initial work mapping the dodo genome laid the groundwork to bring back a version of it from extinction, and how the knowledge scientists gain from de-extinction could help protect species under threat now.

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Tim Alberino returns to the Blurryverse. What began as a discussion on NASA and their employment of clergy by proxy for alien disclosure turned into a wide-ranging discussion of stargates, UFOs, and extraterrestrials. Are there thin places in the world? Can off-earth entities come through portals, wormholes, or stargates to access our world? Join us on another journey through the fringe and unknown in a way that Tim Alberino can deliver. With an extremely practical philosophy on the blurry, Tim unwraps the unexplained and paranormal things happening in the world right now. We get his take on NASA, the moon landing, and tangential topics relating to an imminent alien disclosure and how that might relate to the end of days. 

Guest: timothyalberino.com

contact: blurrycreaturespodcast@gmail.com

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Music Kyle Monroe: tinytaperoom.com

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Outro Song: TimeCop1983: timecop1983.com

The Moa of New Zealand were among the weirdest birds to ever live, and their history is full of evolutionary wonder, interspecies conflict, tragedy and scientific hope. In this Stuff to Blow Your Mind two-parter, Robert and Joe discuss the rise and fall of the great Moa. (Originally published 3/26/2020)

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