Ben Novak of Revive and Restore

Humans and our technology have wiped entire species from the planet. Can humans and our technology bring them back? Ben Novak is a paleogeneticist whose life's work is the de-extinction of Ectopistes migratorius aka the passenger pigeon. Using cloned cells from cryopreserved museum specimens along with CRISPR genome editing technologies, Novak is working on a draft of the genome this year and hopes to see the flourishing of a new passenger pigeon species in the next 15 years. He will discuss Revive & Restore's multidisiplinary work, specific difficulties with bird cloning, and epigenetic influence. If you ask very nicely, he might be willing to tellyou about their plans for the woolly mammoth!