Few scientific innovations or explorations set the imagination running, like the quest to revive dead species. Of them all, there is one that is most compelling: the woolly mammoths. An entrepreneurial startup is behind this gigantic task, whose story is now being chronicled in an upcoming documentary that promises a deep look into the scientific, ethical, and environmental dimensions of this revolutionary effort. It is believed that thousands of years ago, the woolly mammoth paraded the Earth before it faced its eventual extinction caused by climatic change and human hunting. The possibility of bringing back such a creature has been the subject of speculation and is even seen as science fiction that has been going on for decades. Recent breakthroughs in genetic engineering and biotechnology have brought this notion closer to reality than ever.
Leading this boldest of missions is a startup called Colossal, founded by tech entrepreneur Ben Lamm and famous geneticist Dr. George Church. The team does not just intend to create some sort of display but rather use this de-extinction effort for broader scientific and environmental purposes. The aim is to create a cross between the wooly mammoth and its closest living relative, the Asian elephant, through a process of gene editing called CRISPR-Cas9. It will be able to splice mammoth DNA into the genome of an Asian elephant, allowing for the potential production of an embryo that can be carried by a surrogate mother to term. It will be a documentary series produced by one of the leading media houses and will detail all the scientific procedures involved in this extraordinary project.
The viewers will get an inside perspective on how ancient DNA is painstakingly extracted and sequenced from the mammoths’ remains in permafrost. This will also include dealing with the technical challenges of editing this DNA and integrating it into the elephant genome, with both successes and setbacks met along the way. This limited series will also reach beyond the laboratory to explore some of the ethical considerations and environmental implications of bringing back an extinct species. Money being spent on bringing back extinct species could be better spent, critics contend, on saving endangered species and their habitats. They also mention the welfare of bioengineered animals and the possible ecological effects of releasing them into contemporary ecosystems. Proponents of the project call it a breakthrough initiative with probable huge dividends. Plans range from this point to the reintroduction of wooly mammoths to setting loose mammoth elephant hybrids into the Arctic tundra as some sort of combat mechanism against climate change.
This can help the large herbivores restore degraded tundra grasslands that would otherwise be moss-dominated—trample the moss and let the grasses grow. In turn, this will help in sequestering carbon and reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses that are released when permafrost melts. That is, under “Pleistocene rewilding,” these restituted megafauna will again have life that had turned lifeless, mitigating several implications of global warming. The series will be peppered with interviews from some of the world’s greatest scientific minds, ethicists, and environmentalists who seek to give a relatively balanced view on the benefits and risks that might come out of this project. On the part of the Colossal team in making it through its regulatory requirements, raising funds, and engaging in outreach for public and indigenous communities whose lives and lands might be affected by the venture, their journey will also be tracked. One of the compelling aspects of the documentary will have to do with an examination of the human motivations behind the de-extinction effort. It places the personal stories of scientists and entrepreneurs, digging deep into what makes them so passionate about this very daring undertaking.
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For Dr. George Church, it is just a part of a big vision using genetic technology to get over some of humanity’s greatest challenges, be it curing diseases or protecting the restoration of our environment. For Ben Lamm, it simply means seeing how far the extreme edges of what technologies can do extend, leaving behind an indelible mark for future generations to behold. The broader implications of de-extinction technology will also be covered. Techniques being developed for the wooly mammoth project could apply to other extinct species and perhaps even to living ones, like those that are endangered, in which a lack of genetic diversity is a factor in their possible extinction.
With all the excitement, controversy, and profound questions the mission to resurrect the wooly mammoth raises, viewers will be granted a view into a world of made-to-order science fiction that comes to life as fact, always pushing the boundaries of possibility. Most importantly, through the writing of this engaging and detailed narrative, genetic engineering ambitions can be fundamentally understood, rethought, and revamped with respect to their probable effect on our planet. In sum, the story of the wooly mammoth, because of Colossal’s quest to revive it, serves as an epitaph to the ingenuity of humankind and human beings’ unrelenting pursuit of knowledge. This upcoming documentary will document the extraordinary scientific enterprise but has the potential to also foster deep discussion on our relationship with nature, the morality of genetic manipulation, and the future of conservation. Bringing such an ambitious project onto the screen, this series shall be able to showcase all challenges and triumphs in one of the boldest scientific missions of our time.
