The Resurrection of Species (Creating Life in the Era of De-Extinction)

A fascinating inside account of how genome engineering is enabling de-extinction—and what the ability to create new creatures means ethically and philosophically.

From a scientific advisor to the bioscience company Colossal that brought the dire wolf back from extinction.

It used to be that only evolution could create a species, refining a femur, a knee joint, a tailbone over eons. But now, when those bones are all that remain of some of evolution’s upsets, human beings have found a way to bring back lost species—and perhaps bring new ones to life.

In The Resurrection of Species, the scientists behind this evolutionary revolution recount the steps that led to the first genetically engineered creature brought back from extinction, a dire wolf. Christopher Mason describes how he, with his colleague Matthew MacKay, ushered in a new era of genome design and “de-extinction”: the technological methods, such as novel forms of CRISPR and genome editing, the philosophical debates about ethics and the impact of biotechnology, and the considerations about introducing their resurrected wolf to the world.

Inherent in the science of genetic engineering (and re-engineering) are questions about what such power means, how to wield it, who controls it, and what it portends for the future of life on Earth. Looking at de-extinction in light of these issues—outlining the promise and pitfalls of reshaping the relationship between humanity and life past, present, and future—The Resurrection of Species is at once a scientific thriller and an urgent philosophical reflection on, quite literally, the meaning of life.

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