March 19, 2018 9:48 pm

Investigate the Wacky World of Cloning with Natalia Reagan, Chuck Nice, and Friends

“…Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should,” said a devilishly handsome Jeff Goldblum in the classic film Jurassic Park (Warning: This blog post contains heavy Jurassic Park references).

This quote has been on my mind given that this week’s episode of StarTalk All-Stars is all about the science of cloning. Our host, primatologist Natalia Reagan, comic co-host Chuck Nice, biological anthropologist Ryan Raaum, and Ross MacPhee, Curator of Mammalogy at the American Museum of Natural History, explore the ethics, process, and future of cloning.

You’ll hear about the three major types of cloning: gene cloning, therapeutic cloning, and reproductive cloning. You’ll learn about “facilitated adaptation” – using gene-editing to revive a species from possible extinction, like the American Chestnut Tree or the Black-Footed Ferret.

What’s most interesting to me about this episode is that our group seems to share the same cautious optimism that Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) had on his trip to Isla Nublar. Although the science behind cloning is exciting and ground-breaking, we must not forget about the ethical dilemmas that come along with it.

Now, I’m not going to dive into Chaos Theory or throw on a black leather jacket to try and impress Laura Dern, but I will say, as Natalia and company point out in this episode, even if we can clone, is it right?

You’ll also hear about Pleistocene Park in Siberia and the de-extinction of the woolly mammoth, and if you want to know more about Pleistocene Park, StarTalk guest Ross Andersen did a fascinating, deep dive into its creation in The Atlantic.

All that, plus, our gang answers fan-submitted Cosmic Queries on nature vs. nurture, cloning yourself, and more. Lastly, you’ll learn about the oldest ancient viable DNA – and it’s not an amber-encased mosquito on top of a walking stick.

Please join us tomorrow night for Cloning Genetics and Ethics, with Natalia Reagan at 7pm ET right here on our website, as well as on our All-Stars channels on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and TuneIn. And if you’re an All-Access subscriber, you can watch or listen to this episode ad-free at 7pm, too.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
–Ian Mullen