Interesting radio program this about the possibility of bringing back long extinct species through synthetic biology.

Is Creating New Life — Maybe Even A Neanderthal — Possible?


The discussion of the ethics of bringing back Neanderthals in the modern world, and how they would be treated, reminded me of the story The Ugly Boy by Isaac Asimov.

It might be a good thing to bring back the dodo bird should any of this really become possible. I recall reading about a tree species that only exists on an island in the Indian Ocean that is likely to become extinct. It evolved in the presence of dodo birds and so its seed was adapted to require passage through the dodo birds digestive track in order to allow germination and growth of a new tree. So many examples of the destructive consequences of the arrogance of homo sapiens.