Passenger Pigeon Comeback | C4E Presents #044

Ben Novak is bringing back the extinct passenger pigeon. Host Heather Lynch and Novak, program manager for the Biotechnology for Bird Conservation Program for Revive & Restore, discuss de-extinction, restoring ecosystem function by using gene editing or selective breeding to give living relatives traits needed to fill extinct species’ ecological roles, and correcting Jurassic Park misconceptions about using ancient DNA directly. Novak explains how museum specimens provide fragmented DNA for sequencing and the limits of mapping genomes, emphasizing goal-oriented trait recovery over perfect genetic identity. Learn more with: “Could Extinct Species Save Today’s Forests? Scientist Makes the Case for Darwin Day”“De-Extinction” by Ben Novak“Towards Practical Conservation Cloning: Understanding the Dichotomy Between the Histories of Commercial and Conservation Cloning” by Ben J. Novak, Stewart Brand, Ryan Phelan, Sasha Plichta, Oliver A. Ryder and Robert J. Wiese“First endangered black-footed ferrets, Mustela nigripes, cloned for genetic rescue” by Ben Novak, et al.“Natural Selection Shaped the Rise and Fall of Passenger Pigeon Genomic Diversity” by Ben Novak, et al.Skip ahead to the chapter that interests you:01:40 Defining De-Extinction02:44 Jurassic Park Myths05:32 Where The DNA Comes From08:41 Sample Quality And Tissues11:44 Mapping Ancient Genomes14:16 How Close Is Close Enough23:04 Naming De-Extinct Species25:30 Tiny Mutations Big Traits28:12 Building Diversity In30:56 Passenger Pigeon Progress31:33 Ferret Genetic Rescue33:55 Why Birds Are Hard35:52 Germ Cell Workaround37:55 Mitochondria Purity Myth44:16 Policy And Release46:46 Stem Cells Future ToolsTell a friend and share a link to this episode.You can find all our episodes at www.stonybrook.edu/c4e or wherever you stream audio.Sign up for our newsletter: https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/c4e/newsletters.phpFor all things Stony Brook on social media: https://gosbu.co/m/socialC4E Presents is a production of Stony Brook’s Collaborative for the Earth.Host: Heather LynchEditor: J.D. AllenProgram Manager: Jennifer Gilday