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Sep 17 2021
Love0

The Conversation: Bringing woolly mammoths back from extinction might not be such a bad idea — ethicists explain

By Colossal Press
Published September 15, 2021 By Julian Koplin and Christopher Gyngell US startup Colossal Biosciences has announced plans to bring woolly mammoths, or animals like them, back from extinction and into the frosty landscape of the Siberian tundra. Colossal has received US$15 million in initial funds to support research conducted by Harvard geneticist George Church, among other work. The proposed project is exciting, with laudable ambitions — but whether it is a practical strategy for conservation remains unclear. Link to article
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Sep 15 2021
Love0

NPR Science: Scientists Say They Could Bring Back Woolly Mammoths. But Maybe They Shouldn’t

By Colossal Press
By Scott Neuman Published on September 15, 2021 Using recovered DNA to "genetically resurrect" an extinct species — the central idea behind the Jurassic Park films — may be moving closer to reality with the creation this week of a new company that aims to bring back woolly mammoths thousands of years after the last of the giants disappeared from the Arctic tundra. Link to article
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Sep 13 2021
Love0

The New York Times: A New Company With a Wild Mission: Bring Back the Woolly Mammoth

By Colossal Press
By Carl Zimmer Published on September 13, 2021 A team of scientists and entrepreneurs announced on Monday that they have started a new company to genetically resurrect the woolly mammoth. The company, named Colossal, aims to place thousands of these magnificent beasts back on the Siberian tundra, thousands of years after they went extinct. Link to article
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Sep 13 2021
Love0

National Geographic: Mammoth-elephant hybrids could be created within the decade. Should they be?

By Colossal Press

By Michael Greshko Published September 13, 2021 A new startup co-founded by Harvard geneticist George Church wants to use cold-adapted elephants to remake the Arctic tundra—raising major scientific and ethical questions. Harvard geneticist George Church has co-founded a new company with an audacious goal: engineer an elephant that resembles the extinct woolly mammoth. The company, named Colossal, aims to use woolly mammoth DNA to make a hybridized Asian elephant that could thrive in Arctic climates. Link to article

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Mar 03 2021
Love4

How the Black-footed Ferret Project Began—Thinking Outside The Box

By Black-Footed Ferret
It was in 2013 that Seth Willey, a regional recovery coordinator with the US Fish And Wildlife Service, contacted Revive & Restore with the following email. You never know how impactful ideas may become, so always send that email! From: Seth Willey Sent: Tuesday, June 18, 2013 9:20 AM To: Ryan Phelan, Stewart Brand Subject: Outside the box question Hello Ryan Phelan and Stewart Brand, My name is Seth Willey. I work for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Endangered Species program. I understand through media reports that your organization is working to revive lost species and conserve existing ones....
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Jan 11 2021
Love3

Wild Genomes: Conservation Genomics Of New Zealand’s Largest Flightless Rail

By Wild Genomes
This post is written by Dr. Lara Urban, PI for the takahē project, as part of our Wild Genomes banking and sequencing program. Fieldwork to count the number of wild takahē takes place in the remote Murchison Mountains where the species was rediscovered in 1948. A blood sample is taken from the takahē chick “Kohika.”  Her DNA will serve as the basis of the reference genome. Kohika means "ancestor" in Māori, a name that acknowledges her important role in the conservation of the entire species. A party of juvenile takahē. Blood samples of the 84 to-be-sequenced individuals were collected in...
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Nov 03 2020
Love3

Genetic Rescue Is Huge For De-Extinction, But Not For The Reasons You Think

By Uncategorized
This post was written by James Osborne, on his blog, A Mammoth Task. On August 6th, 2020, a male foal called Kurt was born at the San Diego Zoo. Kurt is a Przewalski’s horse, and he is a clone. The once desperately endangered subspecies of horse - spectacularly recorded by the artists of the palaeolithic - has been under the looming threat of extinction since it was first scientifically categorised in the 19th century. In the 1960s the subspecies became extinct in the wild as the last of its dwindling population was confined to breeding programmes in captivity. The worry...
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Jul 02 2020
Love2

An Interview with Ryan Phelan: Using Biotechnology to Revive Endangered Species and Restore Damaged Ecosystems

By COVID-19, Horseshoe Crab
COVID-19 Vaccines and the Harvesting, Bleeding, and Killing of Horseshoe Crabs This article was published on July 01, 2020. Access the original PDF, here. Wilson Sonsini attorneys Vern Norviel and Charles Andres recently sat down with Ryan Phelan of Revive & Restore (R&R). R&R is using 21st-century biotechnology (including genomics, high throughput sequencing, and synthetic biology) to address urgent conservation challenges. One issue that is particularly pressing is the harvesting and bleeding of horseshoe crabs, a threatened keystone species, and the source of Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL). LAL, obtained from the blood of horseshoe crabs, is employed in pharmaceutical manufacturing...
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Jun 10 2020
Love1

#shutdownSTEM and a call for greater diversity in conservation

By Uncategorized
In support of today’s #shutdownSTEM/#shutdownAcademia movement, the Revive & Restore team took the opportunity to spend the better part of the day reflecting upon what our organization can do to better enable racial diversity in our conservation activities. We identified 3 key areas where Revive & Restore can improve. We are making a commitment to: Broaden the diversity of those involved in our listservs Seek out conservation efforts led by people of color and encourage them to apply to our Catalyst Science Fund Plan future workshops to include a greater mix of people of color and monitor our progress We...
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Jun 01 2020
Love1

A Coalition Forms to Save the American Horseshoe Crab

By Horseshoe Crab, Uncategorized
The Horseshoe Crab Recovery Coalition aims to stem years of decline that threatens this iconic creature as well as the shorebirds and fish that depend upon them. Bernardsville, NJ, June 1, 2020:  There is a crisis facing horseshoe crabs and the fish and birdlife that depend on the crab’s eggs to survive. To raise public awareness, seek legislative and regulatory reforms and encourage the adoption of an already available synthetic alternative to the use of horseshoe crab blood in biomedical testing, a coalition of leading conservation groups and businesses has formed a new partnership known as the Horseshoe Crab Recovery...
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