[Moa rendering]
Beth Shapiro (interview): “To de-extinct the Moa we are collecting DNA from all nine species of Moa. We’ll be comparing the genome sequences to genomes of living birds to identify what it is that made Moa unique, and using the tools of genome editing to make those changes in the DNA sequence of the living close relatives.”
[Moa rendering]
Peter Jackson (interview): “Yeah, it’s uniquely a New Zealand bird, so it’s something that we’ve always been very fascinated with and proud about. So it’s a big thing here. The Moa is a big thing.”
[Shot of Peter Jackson with a friend]
Peter Jackson (interview): “I haven’t associated any movies I’ve made with the Moa. I mean, it’s a separate, it’s like the movies are my day job and the Moa is my fun thing I do.”
Peter Jackson (interview): “You know, in the hope that within a few years we’ll get to see a Moa back again. I mean, that to me, it’s given me more enjoyment and satisfaction than any films ever have.”
[Baby wolves howling]
Beth Shapiro (interview): “The process of de-extinction is that we extract DNA from ancient bones and we sequence that DNA and assemble ancient genomes. We use the tools of computational biology to compare those ancient genomes to genomes from living animals and to identify what made the extinct species physically and behaviorally distinct from living species. We then use the tools of genome engineering to gradually edit the genomes of living species to contain that ancient DNA so that we can bring back those extinct phenotypes.”
[Pup wolves]
Stuart Pimm (interview): “All they’ve shown is that they can snip in a few genes to an existing species. So the claim that they have created the dire wolf is just simply rubbish. You know they’ve put a few, you know, dire wolf genes to create a big white dog.”
[‘Woolly mice’ in the hands of a scientist in a laboratory, created by Colossal Biosciences]
Beth Shapiro (interview): “For every species that’s a candidate for de-extinction, we work with ancient DNA to identify the DNA sequences that made those species unique, and we’re using the tools of genome editing and genome engineering to create those lost phenotypes in living species.”
[‘Woolly mice’ playing on a table in a laboratory]
[Pup wolf in snow]
Stuart Pimm (interview): “I mean this is straight out of, you know, Frankenstein. It’s, it’s an extraordinary hubris that says, you know, that we are all-powerful. Well, you know, we’re not. And the idea is that we can go and destroy nature because one day we can we can pick up the pieces. Well, you know, we can’t. Humpty Dumpty and all the King’s men cannot put Humpty Dumpty back together again.”
[Pup wolves running]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.