Slush Science Pitching Finals 2017: Torill Kornfeldt
summary
A visit to Yakutsk yields the best preserved male mammoth head and the claim that researchers extract 20,000-year-old genes and identify mammoth traits like fat insulation and long tusks then use CRISPR edits into elephant cells — so far only cultured cells, no living hybrids. A contrasting case: Nola the northern white rhino dies in 2015 leaving three individuals while the San Diego Frozen Zoo holds 12 frozen rhino cell lines from distinct animals, suggesting cloning plus a related-species surrogate could restore that species; about ten resurrection projects exist.
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chapters (8)
- 0:00Introduction to permafrost mammoths
- 1:25Discovering the preserved mammoth head
- 2:53Reviving mammoths with CRISPR technology
- 4:39Northern white rhino extinction crisis
- 6:28New genetic tools for conservation
- 7:59Rewilding ecosystems with revived species
- 8:42Hope and value of de-extinction projects
- 9:25Moon landing analogy for scientific projects